The government spends millions of dollars on health care each year, but in the end, how does Belmopan know how well the system is working? Starting this morning authorities are implementing a policy that seeks to find out. Dr. Peter Allen, Director, Policy, Analysis, Planning Unit, M.O.H. “The end result has to be that there […]
It’s a common ailment in Belize as well as across the Caribbean and throughout the world. Diabetes has long been acknowledged as one of our leading killers and its debilitating effects are often crippling. While campaigns to raise awareness are often implemented, one new initiative is seeking to focus on a particular target. Anthony Castillo, […]
On Friday we introduced viewers to some of the good works being done at Price Barracks by the visiting medical personnel of the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Comfort. Today News Five’s Kendra Griffith travelled across Belize City Harbour for a tour of the ship itself. Kendra Griffith, Reporting On June fifteenth, the United States Navy […]
For the next five days, Belizeans will be the beneficiaries of the medical expertise of United States Naval officers who are currently touring the region. As News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin and Chris Mangar found out this morning, while some patients will be treated on land, others will be airlifted to a floating hospital. Jacqueline Godwin, […]
It’s something most of us don’t think about until someone close to us experiences a life-threatening accident or illness. Then we’re only too eager to donate blood. But many emergencies don’t allow for the luxury of time … which is why this next story is so important. Ronald Stuart, President, Belize Blood Donor Service “Blood […]
For years there has been irrefutable proof that smoking, aside from being a bad habit, is also a certain path to premature death and disability. Yet, every year billions of dollars are spent on cigarettes and other tobacco products. Today, Belizean health officials announced plans to turn up the heat on smoking. Kendra Griffith, Reporting […]
This evening the Belize Red Cross recognised thirteen graduates who successfully finished a Home Nurses Course. Twelve women and one man completed a fifty-hour syllabus that included theory, practical demonstrations and simulations. The homecare givers also completed sixteen hours of basic first aid and C.P.R. The graduates will now be required to go out and […]
Cuban doctors and nurses in Belize: they were once a novelty, but after eight years on the job the volunteers are a regular–and much appreciated–part of the local scene. Today they paused to review the programme’s accomplishments. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Today, Minister of Health Jose Coye presented to Eugenio Martinez, the Cuban Ambassador to Belize, […]
Earlier in this newscast, we announced the untimely death of former mayor and area representative Remijio Montejo due to brain cancer. According to the World Health Organization, cancer was responsible for the death of more seven and a half million people worldwide in 2005. And while statistics are hard to come by in Belize, for […]
As any businessperson in Belize City can attest, every week–if not everyday–a steady stream of people visit their establishments seeking financial assistance to pay for medical treatment. While there are no doubt a few hustlers in the crowd, most have legitimate and urgent needs. One such case is that of twenty-six year old Orchid Willoughby. […]
Today the NICH parking lot was the venue of Health Expo 2007. Organised by the Public Health Department and the Belize City Council, the event included the participation of several service providers including the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and the Belize Red Cross. According to Belize City Councillor Wayne Usher, the expo was designed to […]
For the last two weeks, the local talk show circuit has been abuzz regarding the Government’s guarantee to Universal Health Services multi-million dollar debt. Much of the discussion has involved the integrity of the guarantee itself as initially the confusion centred on its very existence. Government officials have now attested to its presence in the […]
Over the years, many of our health stories have focussed on diabetes, cancer, and of course, the impact of HIV and AIDS. But tonight we take a closer look at conditions that affect the brain, because as one local doctor maintains, what you don’t know can kill you. Kendra Griffith, Reporting As the centre of […]
It made big headlines in the United States earlier this month: the deaths of a number of cats and dogs who had consumed contaminated pet food. Health officials immediately ordered a recall of the products, a move that included distributors in Belize. But this afternoon, local experts assured us that our four legged friends aren’t […]
Despite significant advances in medical care in Belize, technology that has become standard in other parts of the world is still out of reach of needy patients. But this week, one group of Belizeans will benefit from a donation that will make life a lot less complicated. Kendra Griffith, Reporting For a number of Belizeans, […]
In Belize there is no shortage of concerns over health. From the multimillion dollar government bailout of Universal Health Services to the growing gap between available treatments and the ability to pay for them, the nation’s health is an increasingly hot topic. And today, on World Health Day, authorities reminded us that our own well-being […]
And while health authorities prepare for the possibility of an Avian Flu outbreak, they must also deal with the existing scourge of HIV and AIDS. The Ministry of Health has released the 2006 annual statistics on the virus and while the numbers are open to interpretation, it appears that neither side in the struggle can […]
On Monday, five men and five women of the Belize Defence Force embarked on an eight-day mission entitled “Give Something Back.” The soldiers are running and walking three hundred and sixty-seven miles across the country to raise both awareness about HIV and funds for children living with the virus. The group left Jalacte on the […]
While the weather experts were celebrating World Meteorological Day, their counterparts in medicine today marked World Tuberculosis Day. According to Director of the National T.B. Programme, Dr. Ines Moguel, tuberculosis is both preventable and curable, but new cases of the disease continue to be diagnosed every year. Moguel maintains that given Belize’s high HIV prevalence, […]
HIV/AIDS … it’s been around for over two decades and the way the situation looks, it’ll be with us for quite a while. According to UNAIDS statistics, at the end of 2006 there were thirty-nine point five million people worldwide infected with HIV and seventeen point seven million of them are women … which is […]
There are smiles all around in the Orange Walk district tonight following a two-week humanitarian exercise by the U.S. Army. The kids are happy because their teeth are fixed. And the soldiers? Belize is a whole lot friendlier than Iraq. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting By Friday over five thousand primary school children in the Orange Walk […]
This morning ground breaking ceremonies were held at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan to mark the official start of renovations to the existing facility and the construction of a new surgical wing. According to Health Manager Pearl Ellis, while the fresh paint and electrical improvements will be appreciated, the upgrades to the emergency unit, […]
HIV and AIDS. There’s no shortage of media coverage, both as news, education and paid announcements. And while in some countries rates of infection are slowing, the Caribbean is still second only to Sub-Saharan Africa in the incidence of the virus. To bring those numbers down, a group of fifty television and radio broadcasters in […]
A Burrell Boom family’s quest to seek medical treatment for their young daughter has been greatly aided by a contribution from Courts Belize. According to the furniture and appliance emporium, when staff members heard the story of little Errollynn Tillett, the two year afflicted by a severe intestinal disorder, they took up a collection and […]
Today the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital has dramatically increased its range of services due to a gift of thirty wheelchairs. The donation comes courtesy of the Tubal Trade and Vocational Institute whose students assembled the special set of wheels after receiving the parts from an international group with contacts in China. These wheelchairs may not […]
