Medics fear the impact of Milei’s chainsaw budget cuts

The Garrahan paediatric hospital in Buenos Aires swarms with patients, parents and medical workers. Families stand shoulder-to-shoulder waiting for appointments, while staff race between dozens of operating rooms. In wards decorated with cartoon characters, mothers and fathers rest cheeks on their children’s. The Garrahan treats more than 125,000 patients each year, including 40% of Argentina’s paediatric cancer patients and 70% of children with complex congenital heart diseases. It also performs 50% of child organ transplants. But, despite being the country’s largest and most important paediatric hospital, doctors and nurses fear for its survival. Medical workers say they are facing “financial suffocation”, and have staged protest marches to draw attention to the public health sector’s dire financial situation. “It’s becoming impossible to continue providing the quality of care patients deserve,” said…