Besides the incomparable issues that Venezuela faces, the country also has to deal with the upcoming complications in universal problems such as deaths caused by cancer and how they have been increasing ever since the financial crisis began to lash the oil nation in 2014.

In 2017 more than 26,510 people died because of the lethal disease, which represents a 15% increase regarding 2013 (the year before the recession) according to a study about incidence and mortality rate performed by the Sociedad Anticancerosa de Venezuela, presented on June 21 of the current year.According to the data collected from the study and with the support of the CESMA, Laboratorios Nolver, and the Fundacion Banco Mercantil, cancer still is the second cause of death in the country, only after cardiovascular diseases, according to the Mortality Yearbook from 2007. The states blah blah blah are the ones with the highest incidence of reported cases, while the states with the highest mortality rates are blah blah blah.

But beyond the statistics is the people and one of them is Maiffer, who has been living with cancer 6 of her 38 years. She lives with her 4 kids, 3 grandchildren, her mom, and her grandmother at the cota 905, one of the poorest ghettos in Caracas.When she was diagnosed, the disease was already in an advanced stage, spread through a large part of her body. Despite her delicate health, she still maintains a strong faith in God, thanking him for the strength to keep fighting and saying ”that’s what keeps me alive”. The one that has never left my side is Jehovah, He is the one that inspires me every morning, He is the most effective pain reliever that I have. I can take ten or twenty pills, and I have, the pain is too heavy, and they don’t have any effect. Instead, if you call Christ you can feel God’s hand touching you and making you sleep. That’s what keeps me going. If it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t be here anymore, ” claims the woman, who despite her terrible situation has found the way to shine a positive light on it.