Neglect, food shortages, medication shortages, mass migration and a seven-digit Hyperinflation to make the former Ölmacht of Latin America to a country in which the will may lead Older in a tragedy.
Virginia once had a large family: four children, nine grandchildren and seven siblings. But now she is 81, and her family, she has nobody to take care of you. Five months ago, she brought her eldest son in a nursing home in the East of Caracas, paid three monthly installments in advance and disappeared. The staff of the nursing home tried in vain to contact him. He did not respond to E-Mails, and had changed his phone number. The address, which he had left, did not exist, but it was his. He had left his mother.
Virginia’s story is not an isolated case, as many Venezuelan senior citizens from their families, leaving relatives, who are themselves completely overwhelmed by the rigors of the Venezuelan crisis. The heavy burden of Hyperinflation, unemployment, and food and drugs lack of many Venezuelans against a inhumane tough decision: to provide for either the children or the grandparents.
A woman is transported in a so-called CLAP-Box from the government-sponsored food program.
According to the Venezuelan government, there are more than four and a half million pensioners, which are not related on a monthly basis, more as a kind of basic provision of 40,000 Bolivar as a pension. “That’s good enough for anything,” says the 72-year-old Rosa to the DW, “because a carton of eggs costs 30,000 Bolivar. And a Kilo of meat with 26,000”. Due to the Hyperinflation, prices rise every day. The depreciation of Money reached according to the government, in the past year, around 130,000 percent compared to the previous year. The Opposition speaks of 1.7 million percent. These Numbers have a dramatic impact on the older people in the country. By the end of 2017, a study by the Venezuelan NGO “Convite”, according to Venezuelans in the retirement age would lose up to 1.3 pounds of weight per month appeared.
“Many older people are malnourished,” says Luis Francisco Cabezas, President of the NGO “Convite”, which collects data on the Situation of older people in the country. “Most of the boxes are of the CLAP-dependent, but the food are technically a disaster,” he adds. The CLAP-food packages are part of the government’s subsidised food distribution programme. “The contents of this Box will not saturate, while, fed, but not sufficient,” says Cabezas. In fact, the UN has denounced the high Commissioner for human rights in his report of June 2018, that the CLAP-program covers the nutritional needs of Venezuelans, due to its low Protein and vitamin content, as well as its high in fat, sugar and carbohydrate content.
Fatal Combination
The lack of a balanced diet another Problem: the lack of the drug. “Everything comes together, what you need,” says Luis Francisco Cabezas. The pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela (FEFARVEN) confirmed that in the last two years, a minimum of 400 pharmacies your business have given up. Furthermore, 85 percent of the needed drugs are missing in the country. For example for the treatment of dementia.
Venezuelan refugees: The youth leaves the country, the Old remain.
According to the Venezuelan government in 2013, there were approximately 160,000 people with Alzheimer’s in the country. But Mira Josic Hernández, President of the Venezuelan Alzheimer’s Foundation is at least twice as many Patients. “It is a serious public health Problem. But that seems to be of interest to anyone here”, she complains.
Lonely and vulnerable
Be exacerbated the problems through the continuing Emigration from the country. The UN estimates that since 2015, around four million people emigrated. It is mainly younger Venezuelans, who leave their parents and Grand-parents. “In Caracas there are already a whole quarter of the town, where only old people live – left of your family, in an empty house,” says Cabezas.
Or in the old people’s home. Without government support most of these facilities hold only with donations in excess of water. This is also true for the home of the “mother Theresa of Calcutta”, the rich in a population of the poor district in Caracas is located. Due to the lack of staff, cook, help the patients to wash each other. The Older, the health are made even better, help Weaker ones in the daily Hygiene. Earlier, says Baudilio Vega, the Director of the centre, gave it in his home to 164 residents. Meanwhile, there were only 80. “If it were not for this home, would also be the most of these people are already dead,” believes Vega. “Every day we get a hundred gallons of soup, nothing else. This then is our food.” To the question, “Get you something from the government?” shrugs Vega only with the shoulders: “Yes. Pity.”