Social Medicine Program in Venezuela Called a "Rip-Off" by Health Policy Researcher

[naaman fletcher]

President Hugo Chavez’s social medicine program in Venezuela has been called a “rip-off” by health policy researcher Jorge Diaz, Reuters reports.

"To summarize it in the simplest way, I would say this has been a rip-off," Diaz told Reuters. "It started as an electoral bait with some health benefits, but it turned into a fraud -- not only for health reasons, but a fraud of the national treasury."

The "barrio adentro," or "within the neighborhood" , program, which began in 2003, promised free health care to the most needy. The government initially built small primary care centers in Caracas’ many slum neighborhoods. Centers later began popping up all over the country. Following this, the government talked of rebuilding rehabilitation and diagnostic centers with Cuban and Chinese technology and erecting new hospitals and refurbishing existing ones in impoverished areas.

However, as the years went on, only a small percentage of the projects were ever completed and traditional hospitals have had to go without funding as the government pours money into the social medicine system.

http://www.thirdage.com/news/social-medicine-program-in-venezuela-called-a-rip-off-by-health-policy-researcher_08-18-2011