Belize and Mexico cooperate on taking the sting out of dengue

marcelino miranda

In the past few months the cases of dengue have been on the rise.  At the end of June there were three hundred and fifty confirmed cases with about fifty of them confirmed to be of the hemorrhagic type.  It’s a disease that is seasonal and endemic to this region.  That is why Belize and its neighbor to the north have teamed up to research, cooperate and find solutions that work for both countries. According to the press officer for Mexico’s Embassy in Belize, it’s all a part of the Belize-Mexico Border Health Commission. Officials from the Ministry of Health, Mexico’s Federal Ministry of Health and the Quintana Roo Department of Health agreed on moving forward at a meeting held at the Commercial Free Zone in Corozal.

Marcelino Miranda, Press Officer, Embassy of Mexico

“Mexico and Belize held a technical meeting within the framework of the Belize Mexico Border Health Commission. This commission was created in 2008, and in this case the technical meeting was held in order to coordinate the corporation on fighting, preventing dengue. The government officials of the Federal Ministry of Health from Mexico met with representatives of the Ministry of Health of Belize. Among other things, they exchanged information on the current state of dengue in both countries and at the same time, they agreed on having some corporation and especially having support from the Government of Quintana Roo. Traditionally, the government of Quintana Roo has provided assistance to the government of Belize, specifically on dengue. In this case the government of Quintana Roo will be able to provide the laboratory in Chetumal in order to conduct some research specifically on samples from Belize are going to be sent to Chetumal to check for type of dengue that is being detected in Belize.”

Most of the dengue cases have been detected in the Belize and Cayo Districts.