Ministry of Health launches a health plan

Ramon Figueroa

This morning, the Ministry of Health launched its blueprint for the effective and efficient integration of health services. It’s entitled the Belize Health Sector Strategic Plan, and the focus is to build a primary care network which is sustainable, and which results in a greater impact on the health of the population. The Plan also addresses the issue of Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDs, which is one of the greatest health challenges facing Belize and the region. It’s a comprehensive approach which will touch on different problem areas, above and beyond primary care. Stakeholders in the Ministry gathered this morning to launch the plan, which is all about impact, sooner rather than later.

Ramon Figueroa, Director of Planning & Policy Analysis Unit

“There’s a need for us to have a greater impact on the health of people. We need to become a lot more efficient and effective in the way we do things. And so the plan is basically a blueprint to help us achieve that. And then there’s also the international worldwide movement like universal health coverage that is being promoted by the World Health Organization, by the World Bank, by the International Development Plan…Belize needs to move ahead in this area. The plan is trying to introduce at least a mapping of how we can integrate services at the point of contact, because we have too many vertical programs. We’re talking about scarce resources, so we cannot afford to have vertical programs and duplicate resources. And that’s one of the big problems. So this plan is helping us to introduce a concept of what we call the integrated health service delivery network of how we can deliver service at the point of contact with people in an integrated fashion. And the second thing it does is also using these principles to address some of the key health problems that we have. I think you heard Dr. Pitts present the NCD plan which is key…if we could only achieve half of that NCD plan, we would be a long way in having a healthier population.”

According to Figueroa, although the Health Sector Strategic Plan is being launched today, there is a lot which is already being done, including a project to build a fifty-room expansion at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan City.