CARACAS — The World Health Organization says Venezuela is staring at a second crisis, and this time it is about disease.
Speaking in Geneva on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said the country's health system is under heavy pressure after last week's twin earthquakes. Hospitals that survived the shaking are now overflowing. Others are broken or short-staffed.
The quakes hit on June 24. Two powerful tremors, magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela just 39 seconds apart. Hundreds of buildings collapsed across Caracas and coastal towns. Officials put the death toll at more than 1,700 people, with over 5,000 injured.
A rapid WHO survey of 21 health facilities paints a grim picture. At least three centres are critically damaged. Six more are only partially working.
"The rest remain operational (but) under significant strain," Lindmeier told reporters.
Inside the wards, doctors are dealing with chaos. Patient flow is disorganized, beds are full, and surgical backlogs are growing daily.
The situation is worse in La Guaira, the coastal state hit hardest. Several maternity health workers there are still missing. Lindmeier called it a critical gap in obstetric care, leaving pregnant women with few safe options.
Beyond injuries, the WHO is worried about what comes next. Thousands of families are sleeping in shelters, schools, and open fields. Water systems are damaged. Vaccination coverage was already low before the disaster.
That combination, the agency warns, raises the risk of outbreaks like yellow fever and dengue.
The United Nations estimates up to 6.8 million people, nearly a quarter of Venezuela's population, could be affected by loss of homes, water or power.
Aid groups say the health system was fragile long before the quakes, weakened by years of economic hardship and the exodus of doctors. Now, with facilities damaged and staff missing, even basic care is a struggle.
PAHO and WHO teams are already on the ground in La Guaira, assessing damage and trying to move medical supplies and vaccines to the worst-hit areas.
Lindmeier did not give figures for confirmed disease cases, but he urged quick action on clean water, sanitation, and emergency vaccinations. Without them, he said, crowded shelters could quickly become hotspots.
For now, rescue teams are still pulling bodies from rubble, while hospitals race to treat crush injuries and infections. The WHO says the next few weeks will be decisive, not just for saving lives from the quakes, but for stopping a wider health emergency.
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