'A war zone': Venezuela aid workers fear health crisis after earthquakes
After twin earthquakes killed at least 2,295 people and injured over 11,000 in Venezuela, aid workers warn of a looming health crisis due to infections and overcrowded shelters without clean water.
Medical experts fear the aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a widening health crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious diseases, and a healthcare system already on the brink of collapse. Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded temporary shelters or outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions following the June 24 earthquakes, which officials said on Wednesday killed at least 2,295 people and left more than 11,000 injured.
“The issue we foresee just around the corner is the infections that patients who have been exposed to the disaster for the longest time might bring,” said Eugenio Cova, head of the trauma unit at Hospital Jose Gregorio Hernandez in Caracas. “We’ve already gone through a period of complex trauma – which will continue to occur – but now, it’s complicated by infections.”
Aid workers also warn that extensive damage to infrastructure could fuel outbreaks of diseases in the hardest-hit communities. “There’s been lots of reports among the population here with diarrhoea and other diseases,” said Al Jazeera’s correspondent Teresa Bo, reporting from a shelter site in La Guaira. “They’re asking, for example, for portable toilets, and also help from the government to try to reorganise this place to try to prevent overcrowding, but also the spread of disease.”
The United States has deployed about 900 military personnel to support relief operations as of Wednesday, according to Steven McLoud, a spokesperson for the US military’s Southern Command. The US military repaired an earthquake-damaged runway at Venezuela’s main international airport to allow humanitarian aid, stationed naval vessels off the coast, and the Trump administration has offered $300m in assistance. Material damage is estimated at more than $6.7bn, according to satellite analysis by the UN Development Programme.
About 50 other international aid teams have arrived, including from Ecuador and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Rescuers continue to find survivors, including a toddler trapped for six days. Volunteer aid worker Kevin Simm said the destruction resembles armed conflict: “It brings to mind Gaza and Ukraine. It’s like a scene from a movie or a war zone.”
Even before the earthquakes, Venezuela’s public hospitals were strained by shortages of water, energy, equipment and staff. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2013, including about one-third of its 60,000 registered physicians. A 2025 national survey revealed shortages of more than 30% of emergency supplies and more than 70% of operating room supplies. “The earthquakes once again highlight the Venezuelan government’s inability to provide an adequate healthcare system,” said Huniades Urbina, a board member of Venezuela’s paediatrics association.
