Venezuela hospitals near breaking point after earthquakes, WHO warns

Laguaira,UPDATED: Jul 1, 2026 02:44 IST

Venezuela's fragile healthcare system is nearing breaking point nearly a week after two powerful earthquakes, aid groups warned on Tuesday, as damaged and understaffed hospitals struggle to treat the injured and the risk of infectious diseases rises in the disaster zone. The government has put the death toll at more than 1,900, but experts say the real number is likely to be higher as more bodies are pulled from the rubble and morgues struggle to cope.

Official rescues have also slowed sharply. Authorities said 5,380 people were saved in the first two days after the quakes, but only four were found alive on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, the only survivor rescued was a toddler who had been trapped for six days under a collapsed building, Assembly president Jorge Rodrguez said. Those figures do not include many rescues carried out by volunteer groups that moved in before expert international teams arrived, frustrated by what they saw as a slow government response.

United Nations agencies said thousands of displaced people have spent days sleeping in the open or in crowded, unhygienic shelters. World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said Venezuela's healthcare system, already weakened by decades of underinvestment and years of economic crisis, was 'under extreme pressure now, with facilities operating beyond the capacity of the surge of the trauma cases'. Venezuelan officials say more than 15,800 people have been affected by the earthquakes, a figure that UN refugee agency spokesperson Carlotta Wolf said reflects the official number of displaced people. She said the number would continue to rise, with many newly homeless people sleeping in cars, parks and other places, while those in the worst-hit state of La Guaira also face widespread food shortages.

Lindmeier said the lack of toilets, showers and soap has left displaced people increasingly vulnerable to preventable diseases such as measles because of low vaccination rates, and that conditions are ripe for waterborne infections such as dengue, yellow fever and malaria to spread. The government said 38 hospitals across the country were damaged or otherwise affected. WHO said it had assessed 21 of them so far, with three no longer operating, six damaged and the rest struggling under the inflow of patients. It also said many specialist doctors are among those missing in the ruins, including officials responsible for maternity care in La Guaira, adding to the strain in a country from which 8 million people, including many doctors and nurses, have fled in recent years. 'Findings reveal chaotic service delivery and patient flow, marked by overcrowding, growing surgical backlogs ... and a breakdown in biosafety measures,' Lindmeier said.

There was a larger presence of aid organisations in La Guaira and nearby communities on Tuesday, with tents set up by the Red Cross, the World Food Program and others on pavements, waterfront areas and sports facilities. People stood in long queues in the heat for free toiletries, food, medicines and face masks. At the same time, many Venezuelans are struggling to trace relatives as the government has not released an official count of missing people. Families have turned to WhatsApp groups and nongovernmental digital registries, one of which listed at least 43,220 people as missing. In his daily televised update, Jorge Rodrguez, the brother of interim President Delcy Rodrguez, said the official toll had reached 1,943 dead and 10,571 injured by Tuesday, while urging people to share only government information. He said the government estimated about 30,000 people were in the hardest-hit parts of La Guaira state when the earthquake struck, and that around 20,000 either escaped or were later rescued. NASA estimates nearly 59,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, suggesting the number of people affected runs into the hundreds of thousands. UNICEF said on Tuesday that 680,000 children across the country need humanitarian assistance.

With rescues slowing, hospitals under severe strain and thousands still displaced, the crisis in Venezuela is deepening as aid groups warn that the full human toll of the earthquakes may still be unclear.

With PTI Inputs

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