Page 10 - Preliminary Report on the Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Crisis in the Region

The situation in Venezuela has turned into a complex

Today, 87 percent of
humanitarian emergency and is perhaps the worst crisis in
Venezuelan households
live below the national the modern history of the Western Hemisphere. Today, 87
poverty line, compared percent of Venezuelan households live below the national
with fewer than 50
poverty line, compared with fewer than 50 percent in 1996.
percent in 1996. Extreme
poverty is at over 60%. Extreme poverty is aat over 60 percent.
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That is reflected by a startling statistic: more than half the population has lost 11 kg in weight.

Independent sources say that 8 in 10 Venezuelans said that they had reduced their calorie

intake because they did not have sufficient food at home, while approximately one third of
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Venezuelans eat fewer than three meals a day with a low calorie and protein content.

Health indicators have also declined dramatically. Venezuelans in socioeconomically vulnerable

circumstances used to rely on the public health system but the crisis has eliminated that

possibility. Drastic changes in indicators relating to child and maternal mortality are usually a
reliable metric of the performance of national health systems. In the case of Venezuela,

independent sources say that the child mortality rate has risen by at least 30 percent, and

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maternal mortality, by 65 percent since the regime stopped reporting health results in 2015.
Patients with chronic illnesses, such as cancer, kidney disease, or diabetes, cannot get the
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medicines they need to take regularly.

18 España, Luis Pedro y María G. Ponce. “Encuesta sobre Condiciones de Vida en Venezuela,” IIES-UCAB,
February 2018, https://www.ucab.edu.ve/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/ENCOVI-2017-
presentaci%C3%B3n-para-difundir-.pdf.
19 España, Luis Pedro y María G. Ponce. “Encuesta sobre Condiciones de Vida en Venezuela,” IIES-UCAB,
February 2018, https://www.ucab.edu.ve/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/ENCOVI-2017-
presentaci%C3%B3n-para-difundir-.pdf.
20 Reuters in Caracas. “Venezuela’s Infant Mortality, Maternal Mortality and Malaria Cases Soar." The
Guardian, 9 Mayo, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/may/09/venezuela-
public-health-crisis-infant-mortality-maternal-malaria.
21 Jones, Julia and Stefano Pozzebon. “Venezuela’s Health System Is in Worse Condition than Expected, Survey
Finds.” CNN, 28 Marzo, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/28/americas/venezuela-hospitals-
report/index.html.

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