Puerto Rico

Global News Post #2 – Puerto Rico

Congressmen warn of shortage in medicines

(GFR Media)While Puerto Ricans continue to rebuild from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, they have continued to face a growing number of obstacles in the new year. With flu season in full effect, Congressmen in the US and Puerto Rico, are asking the current US presidential administration what are they doing in order to deal with the shortage of medical supplies. With 30% of the island still without electricity, they are not able to contribute medical supplies to the US like they were able to, pre-hurricane.

Puerto Rico is responsible for 10% of the medicines consumed in the United States, and with the condition the island is currently in, they will not be able to produce these medicines especially with the lack of resources.

“In a letter, 29 senators and 63 congressmen asked the head of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb, to know what steps are taken to avoid a lack of medical supplies, such as bags of saline solution. The legislators recalled that in Puerto Rico – where around 30% of the population still does not have electricity – almost 10% of the medicines consumed in the United States are produced.”

The letter penned to the head of the FDA, asks questions regarding what measures are in place to avoid new shortages of medicine, and if the government plans to approve new suppliers and if said approval will be permanent or temporary. Senators from both sides of the aisle are working together to ensure that the FDA is going to take the necessary steps to prevent a public health crisis across the US and Puerto Rico.

When epidemics, like the flu, sweep across the nation it’s important to think about the implications of relying on resources that are produced in far away places. While the US can’t produce everything they will need to face nationwide illnesses like the the flu, it should be the responsibility of lawmakers to have contingency plans in place, when the countries we obtain resources from fall on hard times. Having plans in place could make the difference of saving hundreds even thousands of lives.

With the writing of this letter to the FDA, lawmakers in the US and Puerto Rico are still waiting for an answer to the questions of the shortages that both countries are facing.

https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/politica/nota/congresistasadviertendeescasezenmedicamentos-2395521/

 

Global News Post #1 – Puerto Rico

Authorities Are ‘Whitewashing’ the Devastation and Death Toll in Puerto Rico

“For more than two weeks since the storm, Puerto Ricans have faced life-threatening shortages of food, water and fuel. More than 90% of homes are still without electricity, 60% without water, and 75% of telecommunications networks are still inoperable.”

While the people of Puerto Rico were working hard to rebuild, media outlets were reporting key statistics such as access to electricity and water, however other statistics that were reported, were said to have been ‘whitewashed’. The death toll on the island was reported to be a very low number despite the amount of devastation that occurred. Information that about the death toll that media sources were receiving was drastically different from what the U.S. government was releasing.

After the media drew attention to censorship, the data that went missing on FEMA’s website soon reappeared. While the debate of the accuracy of the reported information was going on, Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, decided to see for himself what was really happening on the island. What he saw was indeed not what was being portrayed in the U.S. Along with the censorship of the real crisis the people of Puerto Rico were facing, the president’s administration continued to control the narrative by only promoting and encouraging “good” news. Donald Trump went to Twitter several times to boast of “successful” relief efforts and lash out against the “fake news media”.

The purpose of reporting data on emergency management is critical to determine the amount of disaster relief a place needs. It helps determine how to understand and makes decisions about how to allocate resources when needed. When an area needs relief the way Puerto Rico does, a country that has had issues with infrastructure long before Hurricane Maria, it makes it more difficult to do this when government agencies in place to help can censor information needed to determine relief.

Today, Puerto Rico still doesn’t make breaking news headlines and hundreds of thousands of people are still left without power, according various news outlets that have reported on updates concerning the island. Only time will tell if Puerto Rico will get the attention and help they so desperately need.

 

Carrión, Ángel. “Authorities Are ‘Whitewashing’ the Devastation and Death Toll in Puerto Rico · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 11 Oct. 2017, globalvoices.org/2017/10/09/us-authorities-are-whitewashing-the-devastation-and-death-toll-in-puerto-rico/.