Venezuela's tumbling economy and authoritarian rule have precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

The country is now experiencing a more than 1 million percent inflation, healthcare is in crisis with the exodus of biomedical scientists and qualified healthcare professionals.

More than 280,000 children are at risk for death from severe malnutrition and according to the last official nationwide epidemiologic bulletin, published in 2016, infant and maternal mortality had risen by 30% and 65%.

There is also the reemergence of arthropod-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases in Venezuela.

Joining me from Venezuela to discuss this epidemic situation is Dr Alberto E. Paniz-Mondolfi. Dr. Paniz-Mondolfi is an infectious diseases pathologist and clinician at the IDB Biomedical Research Institute in Barquisimeto, Venezuela and he is the founder of the Venezuelan Science Incubator, an independent health research organization.