The youngest victims of an economic...Babies are left in cardboard boxes at cash-strapped hospital in Venezuela as the country spirals into financial abyss.
The shocking images show young babies in cardboard boxes instead of incubators
The photos of newborn sleeping children have caused outrage after they were posted online, and have shone a light on the economic situation in Venezuela which is now so bad that doctors are using cardboard boxes instead of incubators to keep newborn babies.
According to a report by
Dailymail, the images were taken by medical staff who wanted to remain anonymous as experts say hospitals in the cash-strapped country, which is suffering from a shortage of food and fuel, are being starved of resources.
The president of the Venezuelan Medical Federation (FMV), Douglas Leon, claimed some hospitals are working with just five percent of the medical equipment that they need.
According to the Pharmaceutical Federation, the shortage of medicines is more than 80 percent and around 13,000 doctors, more than 20 percent of the medical staff in the country, have emigrated in the last four years because of the crisis in their sector and because of low salaries.
Carlos Rotondaro who is the country's director of social security, reacted angrily to the images circulating online, writing on Twitter: 'We do not justify the actions taken by a professional without the authorisation of the management.'
He added: 'Our hospitals have to deal with hundreds of patients despite the efforts of the media to manipulate things. Unlike many we recognise our fault and we continue.'