Above: A silhouette with recycled pill packs that represents the late Venezuelan Dr Jose Gregorio Hernandez, known as the "doctor of the poor, constructed by artist Susan Applewhite, is pictured on a wall in downtown Caracas, Venezuela. He returned to Venezuela to recover and stayed permanently.
On 29 June, , he was killed while crossing a street shortly after picking up some medicines at a pharmacy to take to a very poor old woman.
An estimated 20, people participated in his funeral procession, about a quarter of the population of Caracas at the time. But to achieve sanctity, teams of doctors, theologians and cardinals must approve two miracles attributed to him. Above: The remains of Venezuelan Dr Jose Gregorio Hernandez popularly known as the "doctor of the poor", sit in an urn backdropped by his portrait, inside the Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria Catholic church, in Caracas, Venezuela.
His ascent toward sainthood has been plagued with obstacles, but in the hearts of many Venezuelans, he already is a saint. Vargas has an image of the doctor on an altar in her home that is always illuminated with green lightbulbs, except during the blackouts that plague the country.
He founded two research institutions and several classes at the Central University of Venezuela, the oldest and largest in the country. He returned to Venezuela to recover and stayed permanently. On June 29, , he was killed while crossing a street shortly after picking up some medicines at a pharmacy to take to a very poor old woman. An estimated 20, people participated in his funeral procession, about a quarter of the population of Caracas at the time.
But to achieve sanctity, teams of doctors, theologians and cardinals must approve two miracles attributed to him. There used to be six working radiotherapy machines; now there are none. Of the 10 operating theatres, only two are in use, though only sporadically because it is often hard to find anaesthetics. The air conditioning is out of order. Only one lift works. The x-ray is functioning, but there there are no printing materials, so doctors have to diagnose and operate based on mobile phone photos of the screen.
The battlefield analogy is made all the more appropriate by the ever-present fear of violence: staff and patients have been mugged in the hospital corridors. Five of the 10 doctors interviewed by the Guardian reported receiving death threats.
But this pales in comparison to the dangers faced by the most seriously ill patients: children who cannot get adequate food, or cancer patients who are unable to get the appropriate chemotherapy treatments. Until recently, the hospital in Barcelona only had a few cases of kwashiorkor a deficiency of proteins, which leads to distended stomachs , but now for the first time, they are also seeing children with the more serious marasmus starvation that causes emaciation and diarrhoea.
I have seen about 20 cases of marasmus in the last few months. Doctors have also accused the government of downplaying the threat of the Zika virus. And while other countries in Latin America have reported hundreds of cases of Zika-related microcephaly, Venezuela has not acknowledged a single one. Diphtheria is making a comeback, although Venezuela had been the first country in Latin America to eradicate the disease.
Since then, there have been between 17 and 22 deaths, according to local media. Another suspected case is under observation in Luis Razetti. The situation is only a little better in Caracas. Infection rates are also creeping up due to shortages of staff, medicine and sterilisation equipment.
Solorzano's mother had prayed to Hernandez for her daughter's salvation. Both mother and daughter were present for Friday's ceremony. Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.
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