Venezuela health system in worse condition than expected, according to survey*

A survey of 104 health facilities in Venezuela, commissioned by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, paints a grim picture of a collapsed system hurting for even the most essential goods and services. According to the report, most laboratory services and hospital nutrition services are intermittent or completely inoperative. Staggering statistics highlight the shortages of items such as basic medicines, catheters, surgical supplies and infant formula.

Venezuela has been in a downward spiral for years, caused by a combination of mismanagement of government funds and the plummeting price of oil. Skyrocketing inflation has created extreme shortages of food, medicine and other essentials, while planned (and unplanned) power outages are common throughout the country and don't discriminate between critical services like clinics and hospitals and the average household.

Water, the survey found, was rarely available at the participating facilities -- 79% of them had no running water at all. Fourteen percent of intensive care units have been shut down because they're unable to operate -- and the vast majority of open ICUs have intermittent failures due to a lack of supplies, according to the report. Almost a quarter of pediatric ICU's have closed.