Venezuelan medics fear earthquake aftermath will trigger widening
medical crisis
[July 02, 2026]
By REGINA GARCIA CANO, MEGAN JANETSKY and ISABEL DEBRE
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Doctors said Wednesday they feared the
aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a
widening medical crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious
diseases and a healthcare system already on the brink.
Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded shelters or
outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions
following the June 24 earthquakes which officials say killed at least
2,295 and left more than 11,000 injured.
Aid workers said the aftermath of the quakes has become a major medical
crisis that, unless quickly controlled, would take more lives in the
days and weeks ahead. The emergency has laid bare Venezuela's chronic
shortage of doctors, the result of years of economic crisis,
underfunding and emigration.
“The issue we foresee just around the corner is the infections that
patients who have been exposed to the disaster for the longest time
might bring,” said Eugenio Cova, the head of the trauma unit at Hospital
del Oeste Dr. José Gregorio Hernández in Caracas, the capital. “We’ve
already gone through a period of complex trauma — which will continue to
occur — but now it’s complicated by infections."
Aid workers also warn that the extensive damage to infrastructure could
fuel outbreaks of diseases in the hardest-hit communities.
“It’s very hot and there’s a lot of concern about potential vector-borne
diseases,” said Veronique Durroux, the U.N. humanitarian agency
spokesperson for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Waste management is
an issue. Debris management, when you see the scale of devastation, it’s
very concerning.”
US military deploys 900 personnel to aid Venezuela
The United States had 900 military personnel currently on the ground to
support relief and rescue operations as of Wednesday, Steven McLoud, a
U.S. Southern Command spokesperson, told The Associated Press.
The military has repaired an earthquake-damaged runway at the country's
main international airport that serves Caracas to allow for the arrival
of humanitarian assistance and stationed naval assets off the coast to
receive airlifted survivors. An additional 100 people from the U.S.
State Department have been sent to aid those efforts, McLoud said.
So far, the Trump administration has offered Venezuela $300 million in
assistance channeled through aid groups and the United Nations. But
that's just a fraction of the post-earthquake aid the country needs:
Material damage from the quakes is estimated at over $6.7 billion,
according to satellite analysis by the U.N. Development Program.
Fifty other international teams have arrived in recent days to help with
search-and-rescue operations, including from countries like Ecuador and
Israel that don't have diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Against the
odds, rescuers are continuing to find a small number of survivors,
including on Tuesday, a toddler who had been trapped for six days.
Crisis-stricken hospitals dealt another blow
Long before the earthquakes, Venezuela's public hospitals were strained
by shortages of water, energy, critical medical equipment and highly
trained staff.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2013, when
Nicolás Maduro took office and the economy came undone as a result of
mismanagement, corruption and a drop in oil prices.
Among those who took flight were many specialized doctors and nurses.
Venezuela’s medical association has estimated that about a third of its
60,000 registered physicians have left the country since the economic
crisis began. Dr. Huníades Urbina, a member of the board of the
pediatrics association of Venezuela, said the number left is roughly
half of the 84,000 that the country needs based on World Health
Organization standards.
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Rescue workers stand on the rubble of a building that collapsed
during the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday,
June 30, 2026. Houses in the Caribe neighborhood are seen at the
top. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Urbina added that a 2025 national survey of public hospitals
revealed shortages of more than 30% of emergency supplies and more
than 70% of supplies in operating rooms. Laboratories are “all
practically closed or do the basic things only," he said.
The earthquakes "once again highlight the Venezuelan government’s
inability to provide an adequate health care system that meets the
needs of the Venezuelan people,” he said.
Underequipped hospitals face a surge
Those who remain now confront the overwhelming prospect of treating
thousands of grievous injuries from crushed and caved-in concrete
structures.
Hospital del Oeste Dr. José Gregorio Hernández in Caracas lacks
screws and plates needed for orthopedic surgery and medicated gauze
to prevent infections, said Cova, who conducts surgery on crushed
limbs in makeshift operating rooms because possible earthquake
damage has made parts of the building inaccessible. Doctors have
even started posting what medical supplies they need on social
media, asking for donations.
According to the government, the earthquakes damaged or otherwise
compromised 38 hospitals nationwide.
There's also a nationwide shortage of ambulances that forces many
injured Venezuelans to arrive at hospitals in the backs of pickup
trucks, said Jaime Lorenzo, director of United Doctors of Venezuela,
a nonprofit network of medical professionals. That's just one of the
ways that ordinary citizens, feeling abandoned by the government,
say they've been forced to shoulder much of the rescue effort.
When the chaos and trauma of the quakes starts to subside, Lorenzo
said he fears a new wave of patients will hit hospitals:
Venezuelans, who, rendered suddenly homeless after the earthquakes,
have gone all week without medication for chronic diseases such as
asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Questions over government response
The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez — who served as
deputy to Maduro until he was ousted by the United States in January
and who became interim leader with the backing of the Trump
administration — has faced growing criticism over its handling of
the disaster.
Videos circulating on social media in recent days appear to show
security officers picking through the rubble of fallen buildings and
making off with U.S. dollars, appliances and other personal
belongings and sparking widespread anger among Venezuelans. The
videos couldn't be verified by the AP.
In response to the videos, the the Interior Ministry on Wednesday
said it dismissed and detained four police officials for “deviating
from their duties and taking advantage of the rescue and
humanitarian aid efforts."
Many thousands remain missing, adding ambiguity to the complete toll
and leaving families in an agonizing limbo as they wait days by
collapsed buildings, hoping for the bodies of their loved ones to
surface. One non-governmental digital database where families can
register missing loved ones showed over 40,600 people still
unaccounted for as of Wednesday.
On Wednesday, U.S. officials pushed back against accusations that
Rodríguez was politicizing response efforts and brushed off
widespread criticisms of failures by Venezuela's government to
respond to the crisis. Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern
Command, turned blame on decades of neglect in Venezuela which he
said “made this even more challenging for the current government.”
“It is a big problem for any leader to deal with a challenge of this
magnitude,” Donovan said.
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