I’m guilty of using the phrase “cold deaths” when I means deaths by pneumonia. I used that shorthand to save space in headlines and in Tweeting about the subject.

It is criminal that the regional government of Puno was gien more than 23,000 doses of vaccine but only innoculated 243 people. And this campaign of innoculating people during the winter season is nonsense, as you say. The vaccines need to be administered earlier.

Right now, things are in a full blown medical crisis in the high Andes. We now need drs and emergency medical centers set up in rural areas. Blankets might help a well person, but with the tens of thousands already suffering from respiratory disease, that won’t be enough.

These “hijackings” are very detrimental to all of Peru because they scare off people (Peruvian and foreigners) from contributing to relief efforts. The government needs to prosecute these cases aggressively to set an example. Perhaps it needs to make it a more serious crime.

And from what I have been told, it is mainly people from small Aymaran communities the ones who need help. Other people seem to have been well prepared for cold temperatures, since after all, this happens every year.

I personally think the problem lies on culture issues mainly from small Aymaran communities.

I can say the main Seguro hospital in Cusco appears by no means overcrowded and by my observations healthcare in Cusco is definitely adequate. The challenge is to extend healthcare to the rural areas and the poorer cities in Puno.

Also, as for relief efforts, you might be surprised how much donated stuff you’ll find for sale at the local markets. Commerce here in the Southern Andes is full of black-market types, smuggling from Tacna, bribes for police and aduanas, etc. There are several local markets in Cusco that appear to be full of stolen or otherwise compromised goods, but that’s just the way things are in these parts.

Yes, Peru needs more doctors and more trained medical personnel. This is an unmet need.
I’ve been looking more into the humanitarian crisis in the Andes, and it seems that a sizeable amount of food, clothing and blankets has been donated, and at least half of these donations have reached people in the puna. (I’m looking at reports from Caritas and Defensa Civil).

Where there’s a huge gap is the medical side of things. In the dept. of Puno, there have been 71,000 people hospitalized w respiratory ailments in the last three months. I don’t think the medical centers there are equipped or staffed to deal with that kind of patient influx.

In other countries, the Red Cross would be setting up emergency medical tents in affected zones to assist with dr care, administering of medicines, etc. But Peru’s Red Cross is a nonfunctional entity (as I’ve said previously) and so the emergency medical care that is needed isn’t being provided.

Ward, have you heard of any groups providing emergency medical care in the dept of Cusco?

It is really a failure of Peruvian society, lack of organized behavior, a cancer of bureaucracy and practically criminal negligence on the part of the academic and political leaders who fail to supply enough doctors.

I’ve heard time and again my students complain that they studied their butts of to get into medical school at UNSAAC, only to be told out of 800+ applicants only 10 are accepted each year. Doctors complain they have to work 30 hr shifts but there’s no money to hire more doctors.

BTW, the post you mention is now on GVO in english: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/03/peru-deaths-due-to-cold-temperatures-continue-in-puno/