I.O.M. Donates to Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has received a donation of medical equipment from the International Organization for Migration. The equipment worth over one hundred and fifty-one thousand dollars is part of the project called “Building Climate Change Resilience and Social Integration of Displaced People in Settlements of Western Belize,” introduced in February 2022. The project is funded by the European Union with a grant of four point six million dollars that aims to enhance resilience in five Western communities. It included the construction of five community center that can be used as hurricane shelters as well as a polyclinic, upgrades to water systems in three communities, and the installation of culverts and drainage in two communities. It also provides a water bowser, firefighting equipment, and training. Now that the communities of Santa Familia, Billy White, Los Tambos, Duck Run One, and Duck Run Three have begun to see the infrastructural upgrades, I.O.M. has decided to invest the leftover monies in medical equipment. Head of the I.O.M. Office in Belize, Diana Locke, explains what the funds were used to purchase. 

 

Diana Locke, Head, I.O.M. Office, Belize

“We are partnering with the government to do a project in Western Belize, five communities, and we thought that this was important. The polyclinic was slated to be one of the buildings constructed that’s been constructed by the government side, and we had some extra funds that were left. We were doing training, and we had some extra funds that were left, and we said, look, we wanted to see how we could support the polyclinic. In the funds we had little funds budgeted for that. Unfortunately, due to construction costs, it ate away some more of the money. And so we ended up with a hundred and fifty-one thousand dollars and we were able to, with the Ministry of Health, speak with them to find out what were the more critical items that they needed in the polyclinic. that they would have to purchase. And so, we came up with the list. There’s a computer and printer. We have waiting room chairs, refrigerators. That is very important for keeping the vaccines and the different things that they will need to administer in the community. We have diagnostic sets, tuning forks, Doppler sono-tracks. We have scales. We have pediatric scales as well as adult scales, the blood pressure apparatuses, EKG machine, we have patient trolley, crash carts, cardio monitor. We have the opal chair, the autoclave, the backboard, and spinal board, and we have cervical colors. So this is just a few of the items that they need that they will have access to in the polyclinic. By no means is it all, but this is a significant contribution to the operation of the polyclinic. So we’re very happy that we were able to use these funds to do that and which will benefit over – from the information – we have over five thousand people that live in those communities.”