CIUDAD GUAYANA : On a recent morning in Venezuela’s southern jungle state of Bolivar, Amanda Santamaria, her two sons, one daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter lined up in front of a shabby community health center in the hope of receiving treatment for malaria.
All five of them are afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease, which is rapidly spreading through Venezuela as an economic meltdown strips the country of medicine and doctors.
“We don’t know if this is a curse, but the entire area is awash in malaria,” said Santamaria, 56, suffering her second bout of the illness in the last three months and relying on palliative herbal teas because she has not found regular drugs.
The family was waiting with some 500 others under the scorching sun in the hope of receiving treatment.
Unsanitary conditions in Bolivar are thought to have led to a recent flare-up in malaria, a life-threatening disease that had been largely brought under control in Venezuela in the 1990s.
The outbreak was likely initially caused by illegal mining. The miners cut down rainforests and often work in pools of stagnant water, which favors the spread of mosquitoes and malaria.
Source : News Agencies
All five of them are afflicted by the mosquito-borne disease, which is rapidly spreading through Venezuela as an economic meltdown strips the country of medicine and doctors.
“We don’t know if this is a curse, but the entire area is awash in malaria,” said Santamaria, 56, suffering her second bout of the illness in the last three months and relying on palliative herbal teas because she has not found regular drugs.
The family was waiting with some 500 others under the scorching sun in the hope of receiving treatment.
Unsanitary conditions in Bolivar are thought to have led to a recent flare-up in malaria, a life-threatening disease that had been largely brought under control in Venezuela in the 1990s.
The outbreak was likely initially caused by illegal mining. The miners cut down rainforests and often work in pools of stagnant water, which favors the spread of mosquitoes and malaria.
Source : News Agencies
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