DISTRESS SIGNALS

Venezuela’s Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates Soar

As crisis ravages hospitals, causes medicine shortages.

Venezuela’s health ministry on Tuesday said the number of mothers dying during childbirth has skyrocketed and infant mortality has also shown a sharp rise. The figures, the first released since July 2015, showed a 65 percent rise in the number of women dying during labor last year, and a 30 percent increase in infant mortality for the same period. The government data also showed a 76 percent increase in cases of malaria. It was not clear why the ministry waited nearly two years to release the information. The news comes amid nationwide protests and a severe economic crisis, with many Venezuelans suffering from food and medicine shortages. President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing widespread calls for his ouster, has blamed the health crisis on a supposed coup that is being plotted against him, saying medications are deliberately being stolen to intensify public anger.