Health Ministry clears air on care for V’zuelans

Ministry of Health corporate communications manager Candice Alcantara says the ministry is still being asked about the national policy on providing public health care services to non-citizens.

In a phone interview with Newsday last Friday, Alcantara was asked whether Venezuelan migrants were only entitled to one free visit to public hospitals.
Alcantara said the ministry sent out a release on the question on June 21 and July 4, but was still fielding queries from the media and the public about it.

So, she said, “We are re-sending the Ministry of Health’s release to the media houses.”
The release says the Health Ministry’s policy for treating with non-nationals with respect to public health care services and emergency medical services includes: initial treatment, stabilisation and discharge for acute conditions such as accidents, injuries, asthma, heart attacks, stroke, diabetic coma, and relevant diagnostics for acute care using the standard assessment tool used in hospitals.

Public health services offer immunisation and treatment of communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other high-risk infectious diseases such as malaria to non-nationals as well as nationals.

According to the release, the population is also reminded that people who have been to Central or South America may not donate blood for six months, because of certain endemic diseases within the territories such as malaria and Chagas’ disease.