As Venezuela Collapses, Children Are Dying of Hunger
- 7 years ago
As Venezuela Collapses, Children Are Dying of Hunger
In a five-month investigation by , doctors at 21 public hospitals in 17 states across the country said
that their emergency rooms were being overwhelmed by children with severe malnutrition — a condition they had rarely encountered before the economic crisis began.
They showed that 11,446 children under the age of 1 had died in 2016 — a 30 percent increase in one year — as the economic crisis accelerated.
“Never in my life had I seen so many hungry children,” said Dr. Livia Machado, a pediatrician who gives free consultations
at her private practice to children who had been hospitalized at Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital in the capital, Caracas.
“I was desperate — and seeing so many, so many children in the same situation as our boy,” Ms. Hernández said.
In a five-month investigation by , doctors at 21 public hospitals in 17 states across the country said
that their emergency rooms were being overwhelmed by children with severe malnutrition — a condition they had rarely encountered before the economic crisis began.
They showed that 11,446 children under the age of 1 had died in 2016 — a 30 percent increase in one year — as the economic crisis accelerated.
“Never in my life had I seen so many hungry children,” said Dr. Livia Machado, a pediatrician who gives free consultations
at her private practice to children who had been hospitalized at Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital in the capital, Caracas.
“I was desperate — and seeing so many, so many children in the same situation as our boy,” Ms. Hernández said.