WHAT WE DO
THE PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
More than 30% of doctors have left the country since 2014. Hospitals struggle to afford basic equipment, medicine or even access to clean water. In the country, almost 8 out of 10 Venezuelans don’t have continuous access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation, which further burdens health services. Sadly, the vicious cycle doesn’t end there. Malnutrition adds further strain to the health system in the short and long terms. The UN estimates that 1 in 3 families are “food insecure” and 26% of children below 5 years of age malnourished with the tragic consequences of damage to muscle, cardio-respiratory, and gastrointestinal functions, weakened immune systems, poor brain development, and psychosocial disorders.
THE Economic crisis has shattered the foundations of public health in Venezuela
OUR APPROACH
Healing Venezuela tackles the health crisis in Venezuela through key programmes, focusing medical education, hospital improvement, donation of medical devices, clean water, and food security for vulnerable children.
Our Programmes
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR JUNIOR DOCTORS
Because of the decade-long crisis in Venezuela, 33% of medical specialists have left the country. For that reason, since 2018, we have a scholarship programme for junior doctors giving them a monthly allowance to continue their training. Junior doctors in charge of medical care in public hospitals and each of them treats an average of 100 patients per month. Through this programme, we have facilitated access to medical care to over 1,500,000 people of the poorest backgrounds. A recent survey of our graduated beneficiaries showed that 99% stayed in the country. Our scholarships were crucial to help them finish their training and aspire to better jobs.
Scholarships for Junior Doctors: In Venezuela, 30% of senior doctors have left the country due to the crisis, leaving junior doctors at the forefront of medical care in state hospitals. With the vast majority of Venezuelans living below the poverty line, very few can afford private medical care. Since 2018, we have sponsored 257 junior doctors, helping them reach their goals and enabling them to treat over 1.5 million patients.
Some of the hospitals that we work with are:
Hospital Vargas (Caracas)
Maternidad Concepción Palacios (Caracas)
JM de los Ríos (Caracas)
Hospital Universidad de Los Andes (Mérida State)
Hospital Clínico Universitario (Caracas)
Hospital Luis Ortega (Nueva Esparta State)
Hospital Luis Razetti (Anzoategui State)
“It helps cover my expenses, such as food and transportation, which makes it easier to go to work. That reduces the stress and worry, and I can focus on my patients”.
“I use these devices every day and it's fantastic that my colleagues back in Venezuela will be able to use them too as they can be literally life-saving”.
POTABLE WATER IN HOSPITALS
The lack of clean water is made all the more tragic by the fact that Venezuela ranks in the top 15 countries with renewable water resources. Since 2018, we have donated and installed three purification systems to produce potable in large hospitals in Caracas. As a result, more than 50,000 people can access safe drinking water every year, and crucial medical procedures have become safer.
“Since we received the water treatment plant, our patients, relatives and staff have drinking water. This has significantly decreased the incidence of sepsis in the pre-discharge area. We no longer have newborn babies getting infections due to contaminated water."
FOOD SECURITY
In Venezuela, malnutrition in children has reached an alarming 26%. Since 2018, Healing Venezuela has been providing two meals and a healthy snack a day for children at risk of malnutrition in impoverished areas of Caracas and Sucre State. More than 300 children and their families have benefited from this programme.
“ I would like to thank everyone who put their heart into this program as many children are benefiting. My one-year-old daughter is one of them and thanks to Healing Venezuela her health has improved dramatically.”
PORTABLE ULTRASOUNDS
In Venezuela 80% of medical equipment in state hospitals is non functional, and access to life-saving diagnoses is very limited. In 2023, we piloted a programme introducing a new technology in Venezuela called Point of Care Portable Ultrasounds (POCUS). These devices are slightly bigger than a smart phone and allow quick and accurate diagnoses. We donated three POCUS to a medical school in Caracas and in partnership with the New York University Grossman Medical School, we trained 30 senior doctors to use them. In 2024, the training included junior doctors, and to date more than 1,200 patients have benefited from accurate and quick diagnoses. The programme has been so successful that the use of POCUS is now part of the Internal Medicine Curriculum in Venezuela. In 2025, we will expand our POCUS programme to three more medical schools in the country.
HOSPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT
State hospitals infrastructure in Venezuela have suffered from decades of poor maintenance and updating of equipment. Since 2017, we have started a programme to improve hospital’s infrastructure by donating or repairing critical medical equipment and refurbishing treatment rooms. To date, we have donated/repaired 30 equipment and refurbished treatment rooms such as the blood bank in a cancer hospitals, the only free dental unit in a large state hospital, microbiology lab in a neonatal hospital, equipment for endoscopy and gastroscopy amongst others. To date, more than 10,000 people had access to better medical care thanks to our support.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Family planning and reproductive health programmes are unavailable for the vast majority of low-income women including teenagers. The last official statistics showed that maternal mortality rate has increased by 65% and of these 75% are teenagers. Sexually transmitted diseases are also on the rise. Malnutrition, abuse and lack of access to pregnancy prevention options contribute to these sobering statistics, including perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Since 2018, we have helped more than 2,500, including teenagers, to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and to have safe pregnancies.
SUSTAINABILITY
To guarantee that the children of Guaraunos continue to thrive, we are starting a new initiative to provide a sustainable source of food. The programme provides women in Guaraunos a starting kit with chicks, food and medicines plus training for them to grow backyard poultry farms. As their businesses progress, the women will contribute back to the food programme with the products they generate, ensuring in the longer term the health of the most vulnerable children of the community.
“I’m thrilled, very happy because today I received the chicks for my poultry farm. Thank you so much, Healing Venezuela!”
EVERY DONATION HELPS
If you’d like to join us in our mission to improve healthcare in Venezuela, please consider making a donation through the following link:
stay in touch!
Stay up to date with the crisis in Venezuela, the work we are doing, upcoming events, and ways to get involved with our charity.
Subscribe to our mailing list today!
