Exodus of 1,000 Venezuelan doctors in Argentina, a lifeline for the poorest hospitals in the interior

A blessing

In 2017, 2969 medical expenses were offered in Argentina, but only 1036 were provided, a little over a third. The number of new graduates in the country was stable, but residences were unable to fill vacancies.

The distribution of health professionals was concentrated in the city of Buenos Aires, while the provinces with the lowest rate of physicians per capita were and are still: Santiago del Estero, Misiones, Formosa and Chaco.

"Many of these charges inside have begun to be pursued by us, but before we need a validation," Villalobos said.

In February 2018, Venezuela joined the group of countries with which Argentina has concluded an agreement on the recognition of university degrees. "Venezuelan doctors have been able to prepare newspapers to join the Argentine health system," said Briceño.

Since then – according to
International Organization for Migration (IOM) – Of the 145,000 Venezuelans who lived in the country two years ago, 593 are doctors and already have a license to practice. There are 26% of psychologists, 20% of clinical doctors, 20% of dentists and 18% of nurses. In all cases, the majority are women.

"Today, 600 other Venezuelan doctors in the country will receive their validation," Villalobos said.

South

In May 2018, all provinces decided to include Venezuelan doctors in their health centers, and it was the authorities themselves who were called to fill the positions.

Río Negro, Tierra del Fuego and Chubut were the first to offer outlets.

In
Chubut, the number of doctors is lower than that of health centers similar to those in the center of the country. They work with fewer professionals, but their hourly commitment is higher and their salary is generally higher than in other districts.

Luz Urdaneta is a 50-year-old medical anesthesiologist. She arrived from the city of Bolivar in Venezuela in June 2018.

"Chubut is cute, but it's very cold here," he says.

Luz works at the Sarmiento Rural Hospital. He arrived there on call from the Ministry of Health, after validating his degree from the East University, with which he worked for 21 years.

"I had heard that it had taken a lot of time, but I started the paperwork upon my arrival because I wanted to continue my business," says Luz.

Urdaneta had to wait six months before obtaining her license. During this time, she worked as a cosmetologist in a place of Corrientes Avenue of Buenos Aires.

Sarmiento Hospital has 15 doctors and 14 nurses. She is accompanied by another Venezuelan colleague, the gynecologist. "We are few, but everything is working very well and the patients have many advantages, nothing to compare with Venezuela, I left after going from the public sector to the private sector, we had no needles", he said.

In Sarmiento, Urdaneta lives with her husband and son in a house granted by the state. He works six hours a day, answers questions and says "the salary is very good".

In the Conurbano

Yang Álvarez arrived from San Francisco de Miranda, Venezuela on August 12, 2017. He is a doctor, but he washed drinks during his first months and went to a kiosk.

"I thought I was going to be like this for many years, but I met a doctor who was on duty at a Moreno hospital." One day, I went there, he m & # 39; I took as trainee and started my validation to be able to see patients. "

He is 29 years old and now attends the care of Mariano Hospital and Luciano de la Vega.
Moreno party. It takes place only on Tuesday and from time to time receives consultations from outside guards.

"Today, I live on drugs, just eat, pay my rent and send money to my father and mother, who live in the state. of Falcon, "he says.

According to Álvarez, the health crisis in Venezuela worsened in 2015. "I was doing a postgraduate degree in surgery and we did not have any needles." The resident's salary was very low, only four dollars, the patients were dying in our arms, I was filled with helplessness and I left. "

Yang acknowledges that too many patients are coming to Moreno for the physical capacity of the hospital, although he points out that "the health system works very well, with the necessary medical equipment and competent staff".

In the north

Jujuy It has a rate of two doctors per thousand inhabitants. This figure is well below the national average, according to the Federal Observatory of Health Human Resources.

Up to now, 25 Venezuelan health professionals have voluntarily settled there. In some cases, they received a house and a car to travel to difficult access fields.

Willmer Bracho is a specialist in aesthetics. "And I am also a university professor … Well, I was a university professor, I was teaching in Punto Fijo, on the Venezuelan coast."

Bracho was one of the first three Venezuelan doctors to have validated his title. Before that, he was looking for them by taking care of a patient with Parkinson's disease, was a driver, cook, walked his dog and delivered pizzas by bike.

He has been in Argentina for a year and attends a health center located in the Antarctic district, on the outskirts of Palpalá, in Jujuy. "It's a nice place, the streets are earthen and the people here are very friendly," he said.

The neighborhood reminds him of his city: "My family is humble, my mother is a farmer, I grew up with a lot of sacrifices and the health offices became my second home when I started studying."

Bracho recalls that in his early years of profession, in the late 1990s, the level of medical care in Venezuela "was excellent", but with the re-election of President Hugo Chavez in 2008, "everything began to take place. gradually worsen ".

"In 2010, postgraduate students were dumped because there was no one who would be competing for poor wages.And in 2014, we were struck by the lack of inputs. "he says.

The doctor says that he decided to leave the country when his patients began to die because they could not afford treatment. "I came to give them money out of pocket for their medicine, but there was a time when I could not resist the pain, beyond the fact that we are trained to bear it."

Bracho says that Venezuela can not be compared to Argentina. "It's rude to say that they're worse here, it's disrespectful.They are not fooling me.In Venezuela, I died of a patient who could have been cured here.This n & # 39; Is no longer forgotten. "

50% of Venezuelans are graduates

Last year, the National Directorate of Migration distributed 60,687 temporary declarations and 9,844 permanent declarations to Venezuelan citizens.

According to an IOM survey, half of them reported being university-educated, or even holding a postgraduate degree.