Government Senator Defends I.D.B. $24 Million U.S. Loan

In response to Peyrefitte’s criticism, P.U.P. Senator, Christopher Coye explained that the Government of Belize has invested significantly in healthcare and that the results have been subpar. Coye explained that entering into loan agreements with multilaterals like the I.D.B. opens opportunities for analytical support to better understand the relevant needs of the sector.

 

Christopher Coye, Government Senator

“What we have seen is that Belize has spent quite a bit of money in health care. In terms of comparator Belize has spent more per capita in health care than it’s Caribbean neighbors. But the results have been substantially subpar. That is where we have to look at how we address the specific challenges in the delivery health care services items that have been identified are the challenges in noncommunicable diseases, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, some of the leading causes of death in Belize. Those are some of the areas we can address. But if we don’t understand the problems, we are facing we are like headless chicken. That is where we need to look at where the data is, gain support of these multilateral to do the analysis and then target in an efficient and cost-effective way the use of scarce resources to address these challenges. That is what these loan motions are about.”