WHO alarms over disease outbreaks in Venezuela

GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced concerns on Tuesday about potential disease outbreaks in Venezuela with local health services overwhelmed following deadly earthquakes. 'The health services are under extreme pressure now, with facilities operating beyond the capacity,' spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a press conference in Geneva, noting the surge in trauma cases. By the latest official count, some 1,700 are dead and 5,000 are injured, with no governmental word on the number of missing. Other estimates place these in the tens of thousands.
The WHO also said there were problems with adequately registering casualties and tracking missing persons following the 7.5- and 7.2-magnitude earthquakes on Wednesday. 'There's an increased risk now of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases' such as measles and diphtheria, said Lindmeier, due to low pre-earthquake vaccination coverage, as well as yellow fever, and other vector- and water-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika. He said Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez had reported that 38 hospitals had been affected by the twin earthquakes.
As of Saturday, the WHO has gathered data from 21 health facilities across Caracas La Guaira, Miranda and Falcon. Of those, three are in critical condition; six have structural damage or are only partially functional, while the others remain operational but under 'significant strain', said Lindmeier. 'Preliminary findings reveal chaotic service delivery and patient flow, marked by overcrowding; growing surgical backlogs especially under mainly trauma, orthopaedics, and neurosurgery; breakdown in biosafety measures; and severely stressed staff,' he said. 'Critical gaps include the collapse of forensic and morgue services, and inadequate casualty registration and tracking of missing persons.'
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, warned that community tensions were rising in quake-hit areas due to constrained aid access. UNHCR said it needs an estimated $14.85 million to scale up protection, and provide core relief items and temporary shelter support for 30,000 earthquake-affected people over the next six months. And Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was planning assistance for thousands of people left homeless. 'As the acute search-and-rescue phase comes to an end, both the number of people killed and the needs of survivors continue to rise.' It said psychological support services were being scaled up, as the needs in this field were 'extremely high'.
The powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week damaged or destroyed more than 58,000 buildings, according to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by US space agency Naa. 'Approximately 58,870 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed across the affected region' based on satellite radar data gathered on June 25, the day after the earthquakes, according to researchers Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.
The duo were citing data from the European Space Agency's high-resolution radar imagery satellite Sentinel-1. 'This is a preliminary, rapid assessment. It reflects abrupt surface change consistent with damage,' the researchers wrote, adding that the figure should only be read as an indicator and was not verified on the ground. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported on Monday that 855 buildings have been damaged, including 189 'total collapses.' Nasa said that its satellites were 'providing critical support, capturing imagery and data to help teams on the ground assess impacts and guide response efforts.'
Rescuers from around the world pushed on Tuesday to save any final survivors trapped under mountains of rubble after Venezuela's massive quakes. A total of 27 countries have mobilised nearly 40 search and rescue teams. They include more than 2,000 troops and personnel, along with more than 160 dogs, according to Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations coordinator in Venezuela. — AFP