Mission Barrio Adentro

Barrio Adentro (English about: Into the quarter ) is a program of the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez, which is to ensure basic medical care to the poorest people of Venezuela, especially in the barrios ( slums ).

Structure and purpose

A new three-tier health system sustained access to even the inhabitants of the poorest parts of the city are opened to health care. The lowest level consists of nearly 15,000 doctors who in so-called health centers provide primary health care in poor neighborhoods. More complicated cases are referred by the district physicians at the new popular clinics, yet more complex treatments at the polyclinics. The treatment is taken back into the slums. The government-funded program, however, is dependent on the support of the community centers on site, which are organized by the local authorities and volunteers. You plan to use the doctors and get close to the new offer of the population.

The project " Barrio Adentro " especially Cuban doctors who have volunteered for a certain time to live in the slums and treat the people work. For the project, several thousand Cuban doctors from Cuba have come to Venezuela. The procurement of medical centrally via Cuba. This is part of the Cuban internationalism that support the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela and also part of the program "Doctors against oil ," in which Cuba is supplied in return for the posting of doctors with Venezuelan oil.

Even before that there were two unpaid health services. New to Barrio Adentro is that venture Cuban doctors house calls in the crime -torn city districts, as their wealthier local colleagues avoid these areas for fear of kidnappings and ransom demands.

Track record

Both sides benefited from the program so far, as there has been a serious energy problem in Cuba, while being trained in Cuba in large numbers doctors could close the dramatic gap in the existing health care to the poor in Venezuela. According to the German doctor Wolfram Metzger 60 percent of the population were excluded from primary medical care prior to the start of the program. When the program was started in 2003, only 50 doctors from Venezuela were reported. In the year 2009 1584 Venezuelan doctors next 12,581 doctors from Cuba were involved in the project, according to Prensa Latina. A total of 4500 centers have been set up for the free healthcare. According to a report published by the Latin American Institute of Social Research report in 2008 but far fewer people benefit from the mission as stated by the government. While the government is indicating by the program would be 70 percent of the poor benefit, it had been even in their prime (2004), only 30 percent of the target group and in 2008 only 20 percent.