Venezuela: US Withholds $5B for Medicine

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced on Wednesday that the U.S. Government is withholding US$5 billion dollars from Venezuela, which are meant to purchase supplies to manufacture medicines.

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"A tremendous effort is made so that free and quality health reaches all the people, to be able to bypass all the aggression of Donald Trump’s government”, said President Maduro during an official act to relaunch the national pharmaceutical industry, one of the main focus points of the Bolivarian Economic Agenda. 

The ceremony took place in the Jipana Robotic Warehouse in the state of Miranda, the largest of five warehouses built with the support of China to improve the distribution of medicines and medical supplies for the entire National Public Health System. The other four depots are located in Barinas, Lara, Aragua, and Anzoategui.

The Venezuelan President also announced that next week several tons of medicines and active ingredients will arrive from Russia, adding that soon a plan for the production, distribution, and import of medicines with the World Health Organization (WHO) will be launched. 

"Venezuela has to cover at least 70 percent of the internal needs in terms of active ingredients and medical-surgical equipment”, affirmed the head of state. To lead the fully renewed national pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Henry Ventura was appointed as executive secretary.

In addition, a private-public alliance was presented with Farma Laboratories, a private company with the capacity to produce 30 million units annually of anticonvulsants, hypertensives, flu, and diabetes medicines. While the vice presidents of Economy and Social, Tareck El Aissami and Aristobulo Isturiz, respectively,  will install a meeting with private and public sector representatives to establish the system of costs, prices, production and distribution of pharmaceutical products.