Past Programmes

past programmes

Because of the urgency of the crisis, Healing Venezuela’s efforts grew rapidly at one point, running 11 programmes in more than 50 health centres across the country. The COVID pandemic forced us to pause several of our in-person programmes due to restrictions and safety concerns, redirecting our funds towards combating the crisis. This pause allowed us to rethink our strategy and focus on high-impact activities. Despite the pause, the programmes still had a significant impact, helping thousands of people across Venezuela. Below is a brief summary of our past efforts.

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DONATION OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES

Healing Venezuela began collecting discarded but still usable medical supplies from surgeries and hospitals across the UK and Europe, shipping more than 12 tons to Venezuela. At that time, we partnered with 50 hospitals and small health centres throughout the country. According to rough estimates, over 12,000 people benefited from this programme.

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DIABETIC CHILDREN

At the height of the humanitarian crisis, insulin was unavailable in state hospitals. We collaborated with Guerreros Azules, a local NGO, to provide insulin, insulin meters and strips to children and nutritional training for parents from low-income backgrounds.

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MEDICAL CAMPAIGNS FOR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

In remote areas of Venezuela, indigenous communities, while not completely isolated, have been neglected by the government. In collaboration with CUMIS, a local NGO, we sponsored four medical campaigns in indigenous communities, benefiting over 2,000 people.

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MENTAL WELLBEING

The Venezuelan crisis has had a profound impact on the mental wellbeing of the population. In collaboration with the Art of Living, an international NGO, we delivered workshops in schools and hospitals to teach children, patients, and staff how to manage stress through breathing and meditation techniques. In total, over 4,200 people learned these valuable techniques.

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HIGH-COST MEDICAL TESTS

For serious conditions such as cancer or HIV, high-spec medical tests areot available in state hospitals, and their costs in private healthcare are prohibitive. We partnered with Fundacion Vida, a local NGO, to provide free high-cost tests to low income patients. Through this programme, we helped over 130 cancer patients, half of whom were children to have an accurate diagnostic and therefore treatment to face this difficult disease.

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HIV SURVEILLANCE

HIV SURVEILLANCE. HIV medication is scarce and, when available, prohibitively expensive in Venezuela. This has led to the HIV virus mutating and creating resistance to available medications. In partnership with Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientifica, a research centre in Venezuela, we sponsored a programme to identify HIV medication resistance across the country during 3 years, providing invaluable information for patients medical treatment.