There’s a new shortage in Venezuela, and this time instead of toilet paper or bread, it’s another kind of staple – breast implants.
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For years, Venezuela has had a difficult time having enough staple supplies such as rice and coffee, two products that the country used to produce in excess but now mostly imports. Milk, corn flour and toilet paper are other products that the country has had a hard time securing in the past. Last spring, Venezuela saw a shortage in medical supplies. This particular shortage caused a rise in amputations and significant issues in medical care overall. Venezuela is suffering yet another shortage, reported CNN Money, Sept. 17. The latest shortages involve the availability of brand-named breast implants.
Not having enough breast implants does not bode well in a world that is obsessively focused on beauty. According to NBC news, breast implants that were approved by the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration and that were easily available in the past are now difficult to find and too expensive to make available to Venezuelans.
Self-esteem is of large importance to the people of Venezuela and with that comes looks. The country is reported to have one of the world’s highest plastic surgery rates and breast implants are very popular and mainstream. Breast enhancements are so much a part of the culture that in the not-so-distant past, women were able to enter raffles hosted by pharmacies, workplaces and political campaigns that allowed them chances to win breast implants,reported CBS News. In some people's eyes, getting breast implants is akin to going through a right of passage.
CNN Money reported some statistics -- just last year, there were 85,000 cosmetic breast enhancements. The only countries with higher breast enhancement numbers are the U.S, Brazil, Mexico, and Germany.
Some women are so desperate to receive breast enhancements that they are working with their doctors to purchase subpar models that are made with less care and safety in mind and are the wrong size. These subpar breast implants are not as safe as those from the U.S., reports state.
CNN Money reported that many women who have had mastectomies are being many times affected. Not only are they not able to receive implants but medical shortages are also affecting their well-being. Chemotherapy is monetarily out of their reach, as are prosthetics, which are not only expensive but scarce.
“It’s a culture of ‘I want to be more beautiful than you.’" That’s why even people who live in the slums get implants,” one surgeon related to the press. With the current shortages, even those with lots of money will make riskier decisions on their health. How strange to us it seems to think about demonstrations just last spring that featured signs speaking out against food shortages, currency devaluation and the rising price of breast implants.
*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com
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