Last last month we reported how 2016 Olympic Games host Rio de Janeiro had declared a health sector state of emergency due to the state having run out of funds to maintain the overall operation of its public health system.
The governmental response came as hospitals, emergency rooms and health clinics cut services or closed units throughout the state as money ran out for equipment, supplies and salaries.
According to the Business Insider, Rio de Janeiro estimates that in health alone it owes 1.4 billion reais ($355 million) to employees and suppliers and needs about 350 million reais immediately to reopen closed hospital units and clinics.
The health situation doesn’t appear to be coming to a resolution anytime soon, as spectators intending on attending the Olympic Games have been warned that there will be no hospital beds available should they become ill during the world’s biggest competitive sporting event.
According to The Telegraph, several hospitals have closed completely and even the most gravely ill patients are not being admitted due to the monetary situation leading to a “daily deficit of 150 beds.” Rio’s Doctors’ Union, SinMed, has stated quite candidly that the state of Rio de Janeiro simply was not prepared for the extra load placed upon it via hosting the Olympics, including the million+ people expected to descend upon the state.
Says Jorge Darze, President of SinMed, “We are really in a very serious situation in which there is not the slightest possibility of a short-term solution. It is impossible for doctors in Rio de Janeiro to stay quiet given the possibility that a million people will arrive in our state.”
“Our objective is not to stop people coming but to make sure those who come know that there will not be facilities when they fall sick in Brazil,” continued Darze.
The statement is enough to cause anxiety in itself, but may cause extra concern given the dengue fever and zika virus outbreaks circulating the state of Rio currently. Both diseases are carried by mosquitos and Brazilian authorities estimate that between 500,000 and 1.5 million people already may have been infected with the Zika virus alone in the past year.
Although authorities have reportedly blamed the funding crunch on the drop in oil prices, Darze doesn’t buy it. “No public administration makes their budget based on unstable income. This needs a rigorous investigation,” he says.
In fact, the Doctor’s Union is initiating a case against Rio governor Luiz Fernando Pezão for crimes of fiscal responsibility.
A spokesman for Rio’s state health secretary said: “The priority at the moment is to fully restore the emergency units, not only for visitors but for the whole population of the state of Rio de Janeiro. This recovery happened at the turn of the year, when, despite the huge number of visitors on New Year’s Eve, there were no reports of a lack of care for patients.”
The statement continued, “For the Olympic period, the State Department of Health, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the Municipal Health Secretary of Rio de Janeiro, developed a Care Plan for Health, which designated municipal hospitals as a reference for the necessary transfers of all patients that may need to be treated at a sports venue.”
We can host it!!
@Braden Keith and @Loretta: Is mentioning Obama’s well documented vanity off limits at SwimSwim? Even in connection with his failed 2009 attempt to win the 2016 Olympics for his adopted home city of Chicago?
The 1968 Mexico City Olympics probably should have been cancelled, due to police massacres of students protesting (and rioting) just prior to their start. Many were killed (unofficial numbers running into the hundreds). Many more were wounded, and thousands detained. A lot of this was hushed up at the time. Can you imagine holding the Beijing Olympics in June,1989 Beijing right after the massacre at Tiananmen Square? Analogous situation.
A lot of wishful thinking went into awarding the Olympics to Rio. I hope they can pull it off, but there are many bad omens suggesting that this won’t be easy.
Poor MP will be stuck on just 18 medals if they cancel.
Without 68 there would have been no Bob Beamon , no Black Power Salute , No Beehived Czech Gymnastic heroines , no 17 year old girls winning the 80m hurdles .
You cannot have all that history and say it ought to have been cancelled (ok no- one remembers Maureen Caird ). Some people are not too happy about the romans killing off Jesus but it’s either him dead or no roads , bridges , stadiums , water systems , sanitary hospitals , no rule of law etc.not to mention Charlton Heston sandal epics.
Just because Americans are in a huff that Chicago lost out first ,… Read more »
You do know that roads, bridges, stadiums, water systems, and the rule of law predate Jesus by more than a couple of millennia, right? And sanitary hospitals wouldn’t exist without Ignaz Semmelweis, maybe, but Jesus?
And for the record, Charlton Heston was 10th-billed when he played John the Baptist in “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” His great biblical role was Moses, who predates Jesus by a long, long time.
There are always hospital beds & medical services for those who pay . No one travels without international travel & health insurance & when you tick on Brazil -the algorithm applies the current situation .
Quite likely there will be special clinics / hospitals assigned under deals with major insurance companies.
I don’t think Brazilian hospital administrators are going to go out of their way to push tourists over so they can gleam extra funds but should you faint with MP excitement you will be taken care of if you have pre paid or can hand over the cash .
Or are you wanting it free?
The Olympics aren’t automatic: they were canceled in 1916, 1940, and 1944 (due to WWI and WWII).
Maybe the IOC will just pull the plug on this disaster — Rio 2016 — in the making.
yeah, cuz this is just like a world war.
obviously this is a big problem and rio looks to have been poorly planned, but come on now.
Now where am I supposed to stay!?
The people of Brazil, and the athletes, their support crews, their families, all who wanted to participate in the Olympics, deserve better. Health and safety are the top priority for all. What a shambles.