M.O.H. prepares for World Health Day

This Friday, Belize joins countries across the world in celebrating World Health Day, under the theme “Move for Health”. In an effort to promote better health practices in Belize, the Ministry of Health is staging a national media and public open day on Friday, at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital from eleven in the morning. Joan Burke is the Ministry of Health’s technical advisor for the programme.

Joan Burke, Technical Advisor, Min. of Health

“We felt that this was an opportunity to sort of promote the services within the health sector. And to invite the media to come in, for them to see themselves in a different role and to sort of strengthen that relationship. We hope that people will be able to see not only hospital base services, but also the services of the other health departments, the other health programmes, which sort of strengthen the hospital base services.

For example, we will have the maternal and child health, the nutrition department, vector control, the whole environmental health, which help us to realise that if we don’t have a healthy environment, it impacts on our health eventually. And also, we will have people from the private sector, like the pharmacies, and the Pan American Health Organisation. We also invited people like NOPCA (National Organisation for the Prevention of Child Abuse), B.F.L.A. (Belize Family Life Association) and other organisations, who provide some level of preventive health care services. What I also want to add here too, is that it is not only happening here in Belize City, but it’s a national event. So even at the districts simultaneously the same activity will be going on.”

The Pan American Health Organisation will also launch their centennial year of service to the Americas as a public health agency, with a series of events in the coming months. The first such activity is a hike, bike and fun run on Saturday starting at 6:00 a.m. at the Yarborough Green in Belize City.