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Venezuelans barter for leftover medicine as economic crisis deepens | World news | The Guardian

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Venezuelans barter for leftover medicine as

economic crisis deepens
Scarcity forces people to trade drugs on social media as country faces public health emergency
Carmen Fishwick
Wednesday 18 May 2016 18.06BST

artering with strangers for leftover prescription drugs in Venezuela has become as
commonplace as asking a neighbour for a similarly scarce cup of our, as the countrys
economic crisis morphs into a public health emergency. So desperate is the situation that
television and radio stations have taken to broadcasting requests for drugs and medical
supplies, and people are turning to social media to seek out life-saving medicine.
We found the heart disease drug Manidon, which my mum takes daily, using WhatsApp. We
bartered the drug for four rolls of toilet paper, says Carlos Gonzalez, 35, an IT worker whose
wife is expecting a baby next month.
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Venezuelans barter for leftover medicine as economic crisis deepens | World news | The Guardian

When my mother sees her stock of drugs declining, she starts cutting the pills and taking half
a dose. If we cant nd the medicines, theres nothing we can do. We cant order over the
internet because we cant transfer funds abroad. The government wont exchange our bolivars
for dollars or euros. People are just riding their luck, he says.
Verapimil, sold under the trade name Manidon, is listed as an essential drug by the WHO, and
is only available on prescription. But empty pharmacy shelves are forcing desperate
Venezuelans to seek alternative routes.
According to those who responded to a Guardian callout, many people are reliant on the
generosity of those living outside the country to buy drugs on their behalf, but this is
dependent on having the right contacts.
To nd medicines abroad is like a quest. In Spain, if pharmacies know the medication is for
Venezuela, they will sell you the medication without a prescription. We must rely on friends or
family to then bring it over because we are not allowed to receive anything from abroad using
DHL or the post, says Rosa, 43, an administrator from Caracas, the capital.
As many Venezuelan doctors have emigrated to the US, we have some contacts there and
these doctors will issue a prescription to a pharmacy directly. The pharmacy posts to a US
address then that person brings the medicines to Venezuela. We then need to pay with dollars
oreuros bought on the black market as we dont have free currency exchange in the country.
My 75-year-old mother cannot live without Diovan for high blood pressure and Lumigan eye
drops for glaucoma. I have also a brother that suers from Crohns disease. It is painful to see
him suering for long periods until nally he can get his medication. We are dependent on the
goodwill of people who have family or friends abroad to send us the drugs, she says.
Carla, who lives in Washington DC, uses a friend in Colombia to buy and deliver thyroid and
glaucoma medication for her parents living in Caracas. My father is diabetic and must inject
insulin every day. Hell run out of his current stock in less than a month. Were planning to
send my brother overseas to get insulin for my dad who is 70 and cant travel long distances.
My mother suers from a heart arrhythmia and must take medication daily. Her doctor has
changed it ve times over the past six months so she can try to nd at least one kind that helps
her condition. She takes whatever she can nd but its not the ideal medication she requires,
she says.
Doctors, aware of the lack of drugs, write out multiple prescriptions for alternative drugs in
case the preferred medicine is unavailable, according to some of those who responded to the
Guardians callout. Hospitals are also functioning with a lack of basic medical equipment, with
reports of patients being asked to bring syringes and bandages with them.
We have less and less each day. Our medical practices have changed. Its crazy. There is not
enough income to keep up with our normal expenses. We are all aected. Im a doctor and
even I cant get treatment for my own maladies, says Silvia, 41, an anaesthetist
Opponents of the president, Nicols Maduro, passed a law last month that would allow
Venezuela to accept international aid to prop up the healthcare system. But Maduro, in a
television address, rejected the calls, describing them as an attempt to privatise the health
system.
Gonzalez feels lucky. His company provides medical insurance which means his wife will be
able to have a caesarean in a private hospital next month. But even then, they have been asked
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Venezuelans barter for leftover medicine as economic crisis deepens | World news | The Guardian

to bring their own soap for the baby.

Our main worry is for the baby, since we dont know what she might need once shes born. My
wife wants to breastfeed, but if for some reason we need baby formula, thats also very hard to
nd. In the black market it costs around 30% of a minimum monthly wage for a can that lasts
four or ve days, he says.
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