The announcement made by the Venezuelan State to place, following four months, the reinforcement of the vaccine once morest the virus of the COVID-19the National Academy of Medicine has reported that this decision is not convenient.
Because that reduction in time, of getting the vaccine before six months, is not established by the international scientific community, he told Elimpulso.com the doctor Enrique López Loyo, president of the National Academy of Medicine.
That decision, he stressed, will depend on the course of the pandemic worldwide and will obey an international guideline that will be issued by the World Health Organization (WHO)which so far has not issued any statement on the matter.
The official Venezuelan statement seems to be forcing people to get booster doses of Chinese or Russian vaccines every four months.
Why is it inconvenient?
It can be counterproductive because the pre-stimulation of the immune system might cause problems.
Also read: Maduro: We are going to have to get a booster vaccination every four months
Crisis factors
Before touching on this aspect, with Dr. López Loyo, this medium had dealt with everything related to various aspects of the Venezuelan health system.
How has the health system been almost totally abandoned by the Venezuelan state? She was asked.
The cause is multifactorial – he explains: The deterioration of the health system begins with human resources. There has been a breakdown in the training of health professionals, both in the medical area and in related areas of nursing and other professions.
The National Academy of Medicine early in the year 2008issued a study in which it established that there was training inconsistency in the groups of students who were accessing training as comprehensive community doctors. At that time they were associated with the social program neighborhood inside.
Then the situation became generalized and universities were created that were directly structured to train health professionals, with pre-eminence in medicine. In this way we determined that there were weaknesses in the training of personnel, since our traditional schools trained doctors during 8500 hours academic, while the new ones barely reached a little more than 4000 hours.
We made a call to the State to try to improve the formation of this parallelism in health, but we were not listened to.
And from then on we were never listened to as an institution and we lost the support of the State, despite being an institution of the Venezuelan state. But, we have never stopped telling the truth when it comes to health.
Migration and loss of capacity
When we reach the year 2022, during this health system crisis, we find ourselves with the sad reality that the country has had a significant loss with the departure of more than 30 thousand doctors.
At the same time, there has been a loss of hospital capacity and care outpatient clinics, to which is added the deficit of essential services.
As of 2014, hospitals began to lose electricity, water and telephone services, in addition to the deterioration of technological equipment and immediate repairs that were required, mainly in areas such as radiology, imaging extension, radiation therapy, oncology and pathology.
In addition to the lack of maintenance, there was a significant deterioration in the sanitary structure.
Oncology programs in general became blurred, high-cost therapy practically disappeared and an urgent need for patients began to take shape, leading many of them to seek resources and private medical attention.
The provision of medicines not only available and free in hospitals, but also in private commerce disappeared and this caused that when they were obtained they had such a high cost that it was impossible to acquire them.
All this has motivated, according to a study carried out by our Academiawhich is one of the most important factors that has pressured, in recent years, the departure of Venezuelans outside our borders, not only to seek sustenance and a decent life for their families, but also in search of medical attention in treatments as such as hypertension, diabetes and other diseases, but also in surgery or in alternative or high-end treatments such as organ transplants.
professional discrimination
It is undeniable that there has been a discrimination of professionals from classical training identified with the traditional, who have been displaced by those with inconsistent training.
However, the ability of the doctor has been demonstrated in those who have left the country, since they have been recognized for their professional quality, for being by the patient’s side and maintaining a compassionate relationship with him.
The degrees issued by the parallel universities are not recognized internationally, which does not help these professionals, who have training difficulties and cannot continue their studies. They are even unable to respond to the needs of their relatives due to the low income they receive.
Pandemic Surveillance
With the appearance of the disease COVID-19, Throughout the country, doctors and nurses leave the public service for the private, or care for patients infected by the pandemic at home.
This has been a factor that has multiplied the cases of the aforementioned disease and contributed to the number of unfortunate deaths of these professionals.
Faced with this situation, the Academy of Medicine It has been vigilant of the duty we have and, therefore, we have verified the advantages and weaknesses of the process at the time the international vaccination program was established.
We have stated that the national vaccination program to be successful must be continuous and taken to all the inhabitants of the country.
Despite the fact that the capacity to generate mass vaccination began late in Venezuela, we have found information from international organizations that really tell us what is happening.
The latest report from the John Hopkins University indicates that the country reached with the two doses of vaccine the 56%. From one dose, 73%. And from the reinforcement of a dose, on the first of March, the 18, 1%. These percentages taken statistically are very significant.
The Academy of Medicine and Societies Scientists have pointed out that the State must maintain supplies of quality vaccines, internationally recognized and verified by scientific studies and serious regulatory bodies, and not vaccine candidates as advertisements that the Venezuelan state Has made.
Do not neglect diseases
The Academia has made a very responsible call on the State to attend to basic pathologies and, to this end, to reincorporate the oncological health care program, the care of surgeries, to respond to patients suffering from chronic pathologies that must be assisted, to carry out therapies for chronic pathologies and in the generic field, especially rheumatoid lupus because patients cannot buy these therapies, including hypertensive patients who are affiliated with Social Security, taking into account that treatment requires money and pensions are very low.
We have also made observations regarding Venezuelan endemic diseases, which must be addressed, such as malaria and yellow fever, which last year deserved an alert and might be controlled through social health care measures. In the same way, dengue and other diseases typical of a tropical country like Venezuela must be kept at bay.
In the same order, the expanded immunization program needs to be developed; that is, the vaccines everyone needs for preventable diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and rubella.
Three years ago, conventional vaccination reached 56%well below the recommendations of the World Health Organizationaccording to which the pathologies preventable by vaccines, especially those that are placed in children under five years of age, must be above the 95%.
In times of pandemics, the supply of vaccines has decreased and at this time Venezuela has not been able to pay the Revolving Fund for obtaining vaccines.
It is also necessary to incorporate the vaccine once morest human papillomabecause there has been a significant number of deaths due to urogenital cancer associated with this virus in men and women as well, in the cervixbecause it is very risky.
This vaccine is important because, since it was approved internationally, it has been proven that it has decreased in the 97% the possibility of developing cancer in people who have this virus.
It is therefore recommended that children be vaccinated between 9 and 11 yearsand in patients up to age 45 to prevent cervical cancer and other types of cancer.
percentages
When asked regarding what Nicolás Maduro said, first of some miraculous drops and in days past, that he had been vaccinated on 102% of the population, the Dr. Lopez Loyo responded that this percentage cannot be, since it cannot exceed the 100%.
“It was a tremor of the president, probably “commented.
He recalled that at the beginning of the pandemic, since it was a new virus, many alternatives arose that were ultimately rejected, such as the miracle drops, because they were therapies that had nothing to do with the disease. And today the fight once morest COVID-19 is vaccination.
The Academia has said that what is indicated is to place in Venezuela the chinese vaccines and the Russian the recommended doses for each vaccine. And as it was established internationally, the reinforcement must be done every six months.
