Venezuela health care crisis: Shooting is just the first pain 委內瑞拉的醫療危機：中槍只是痛苦的開始而已

When Jose Luis Vasquez was brought to the emergency room last Monday with a gunshot wound to the chest, the worst of his nightmare should have been over. He had survived an armed robbery without losing any major organs and needed only what doctors described as minor surgery.

當Jose Luis Vasquez在星期一因為胸部中槍被送進急診室，對他來說這還只是噩夢的開始，他在一次武裝搶劫案中活了下來，並無傷害到主要器官，據醫生所言只需要動小手術就可以了。

Vasquez is being treated in one of Venezuela's largest public hospitals, in Valencia, an industrial city about 150 kilometers (95 miles) from the capital, Caracas. Days later, he is still laid up in a humid room at the public hospital. A makeshift surgical drain, made from an empty gallon bottle, draws fluid from his lungs. All the supplies, from gauze to syringes, had to be purchased out of his pocket.

Vasquez現在在委內瑞拉最大的公家醫院接受治療，醫院為在瓦倫西瓦，一個離首都卡拉卡斯大約150公里(95英里)遠的的工業城市，過了幾天，他仍然躺在公家醫院的潮濕病房裡，由空瓶所製的臨時的引流設施，從肺中導出液體。從紗布到皮下注射器，所有的物資都需要他自己負擔。

"I had to buy this needle," Vasquez says, pointing at the yellow casing secured to his right arm with transparent tape. "This cost me 1,000 Bolivares. The hydrogen peroxide was another 2,000 Bolivares -- there was nothing in this hospital."

Vasquez指著用透明膠帶固定在右邊手臂黃色盒子說：「我需要自己購買這根針，它花了我1000玻利瓦，雙氧水要另外再花2000玻利瓦，這間醫院什麼也沒有。」

Those two amounts add up to about 30% of the monthly minimum wage in Venezuela. And Vasquez has also lost his major source of income: the bicycle he used to make deliveries was stolen when he was shot.

這兩筆加起來大約是委內瑞拉最低月新的百分之30，再加上Vasquez同時失去了他主要的收入來源：他運送貨物的腳踏車在中槍時被偷了。

His fears of being robbed continue inside the hospital, so he hides the money he needs for medicine under his blanket inside his underwear.

他害怕在醫院再被搶劫，所以他將他要用來當醫藥費的錢藏在蓋在毛毯下的內褲裡面。

Falling oil prices led to deficits in Venezuela, which the government tackled by printing money. But that has now led to ballooning inflation, and even basics have become unaffordable for many.

下跌的油價導致委內瑞拉的財政赤字，政府印錢來解決這個問題，但這導致現在發生通貨膨脹，甚至讓基本物資貴到讓許多人買不起。

Luis Hidalgo, who's been in a wheelchair with a leg in a cast after a car accident, says he's been awaiting further treatment on his leg for 40 days. He, too, had to buy his medical supplies, and he says they were stolen when he was heavily sedated.

Luis Hidalgo在一場車禍之後就一隻腿打著石膏坐著輪椅，他表示他等待腿部的後續治療已經等了40天了，他也一樣需要自己購買他的醫療物資，而且他還說他的醫療物資在他熟睡時被偷了。

"A few weeks ago I went into the operating room and, when I came out, not only had I not had the surgery but everything was gone."

「在幾個星期前，我被送進手術室，當我出來的時候，我不只沒有動手術，所有的東西都沒了。」

Some in the hospital believe the medicines are being swiped from the facility to be sold on the black market, as government rationing of medications has made even basics, like pain relievers, hard to come by.

政府限量配給藥物，甚至像是止痛劑這樣的基本物資都變得難以取得，有些在醫院的人認為，人們偷竊藥品是為了將它們轉賣到黑市裡。

Yomaira Meza's daughter Winifer was scheduled to have a tumor removed from her neck this week, but surgery was canceled because of the lack of supplies.

Yomaira Meza的女兒Winifer原本安排在這周移除脖子的腫瘤，但是手術因為缺乏物資而被取消了。

When asked what they were going to do, all she answered was "keep waiting."

According to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela, the country is lacking roughly 80% of the basic medical supplies needed to treat its population.

當它們被問到他們要怎麼做的時候，她只回答了「繼續等待」。

Doctors attending to these patients are also without resources. A group of residents treating Vasquez and Meza said they don't even have paper to write prescriptions on and, up until recently, were working without any light in their lounge.

照顧這些病患的一生同樣也缺乏物資，一群照顧Vasquez和Meza的住院醫生表示他們沒有紙可以寫處方千，至今，他們仍然休息室沒有燈的狀態下工作。

"We used to have operating rooms working 24 hours a day," said Mariangel Fonseca, a surgical resident. "This was an elite hospital."

外科住院醫師Mariangel Fonseca表示：「以前我們是24小時都可以使用手術室，這裡以前是一間非常高級的醫院。」

This week, the opposition-controlled National Assembly officially declared Venezuela is suffering a national humanitarian health crisis.

本週，被反對派控制的國家大使館官員宣稱委內瑞拉正面臨國家層級的人道醫療危機。

During the three-hour debate, legislators said President Nicolas Maduro must present a plan to guarantee access to essential medical supplies and open the country's borders to international aid.

在三個小時的辯論中，立法委員表示總統尼古拉斯·馬杜洛必須提出計劃保證醫療物資的供給並且開放邊界讓國際救援得以進入。

Maduro's government denies there is a crisis and says his administration has opened more than 2,000 urgent care facilities throughout the country. He also accused the opposition of plotting to privatize the country's national health care system.

Maduro政府否認目前面臨危機並表示他的政府將會在國家各地開放2000個緊急照顧機構，他同時指控反對派密謀私有化國家的醫療照顧系統。

原文網址：http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/05/americas/venezuela-health-care-crisis/