Category: Health

Over the past three weeks, there’s been a resurfacing of the dreaded COVID virus in Belize. While there’s not yet a need for a Ministry of Health and Wellness official caution, we got one of its officials to brief us on the situation. Director of Public Health and Wellness in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa, said there’s actually been a spike not only in COVID cases but in respiratory illnesses as well as gastroenteritis.

 

Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, Dir., Public Health & Wellness, Ministry of Health & Wellness

“For the last week we have seen an increase in gastroenteritis in people over five. That has been in the alert zone now for about two to three weeks and so that is something that is currently being investigated by our surveillance team. And we have seen some increase in respiratory illnesses in a few of the districts and respiratory illnesses encompasses any of the viruses or bacteria that would cause upper respiratory illness or pneumonias. With regards to COVID, we do know that over the last two to three weeks, we have seen some slight increase, but nothing that we would say is significant at this time. But we’ve got to keep in mind incubation periods, we’ve got to keep in mind when the surveillance personnel will pick up these increases and we need to ensure that we keep following it every week to see if there is a definite significant increase. We know that persons who are vulnerable remain the same as years ago. Vulnerable populations are persons – the elderly, so if you’re 60 and over, persons with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer patients, anybody who’s immunosuppressed, and pregnant women. So our advice from the Ministry of Health and Wellness when it comes to any respiratory illness, not only COVID, is that if you know that you’re ill, use your mask, refrain visiting at-risk persons, ensure that you keep your distance from at-risk persons, and we can protect each other by just doing some of those initiatives. Hand sanitizing is very important, covering your coughs and sneeze. So we continue to look at these numbers, we monitor them closely, and if the need arises that we do have to make a statement, we will be doing so. After looking at the COVID numbers.”

 

The fight against H.I.V. and AIDS in Caribbean continues and the team at the National AIDS Commission is doing their part to ensure that Belize is properly equipped. On Monday, Doctor Russell Manzanero, Director of the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health and Wellness told us that the number of recorded H.I.V. cases in Belize has not seen a drastic shift upward in years, but the work to drive it downward is still ongoing. We spoke with Enrique Romero, Executive Director of the National AIDS Commission, who told us about how the public can do their part to ensure that they are H.I.V. free in the privacy of their own homes. Here’s more on that.

 

Enrique Romero, Executive Director, NAC

“Globally one of the strategies that has been working in reducing the incidents of H.I.V. globally is the introduction of H.I.V. self-testing modality. So that is something that the National Aids Commission has been advocating for and promoting and working closely with the Ministry of Health and other partners. And we have introduced last year, H.I.V. self-testing, more of a pilot because H.I.V. self-testing is basically you doing the test on your own so last year during the pilot we asked people to come into our facilities at civil society facilities, Belize Family Life Association and GoBelize in Belmopan. And they went into a room and the person in there would assist them in conducting the test. Now the idea now this year is, I believe the colleagues in the Ministry of Health have started rolling this out in some of their districts is the tests are available at the Ministry of Health facility. You ask for an H.I.V. self-test kit, they would give you a kit. The kit comes with a pamphlet that shows you exactly what to do. The kit also has a barcode that you can, everybody has a phone now, you take your phone, you scan the barcode, it takes you to a YouTube channel that shows you exactly how you go about doing the H.I.V. self-test.” 

Combating the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS requires a multidimensional approach, taking into consideration both treatment and preventative measures. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, more commonly known as PREP, is a form of medication used to prevent H.I.V. infection. The National AIDS Commission, NAC, is encouraging the public to make use of this potentially life-saving drug. Enrique Romero, Executive Director of NAC, further explains the benefits of PREP.

 

Enrique Romero, Executive Director, NAC

“So pre-exposure prophylaxis basically is a pill that is taken daily, and it’s for persons who are H.I.V. negative but who may be at higher risk of contracting H.I.V. So let me give you an example, let’s say you have a relationship, a partner, where the, one of the person; Listen the husband is positive and the wife is negative, for whatever reason. So in order for the wife to eliminate or mitigate the risk of contracting H.I.V. from the husband the woman, the wife would take the pill, the pre-exposure prophylaxis daily, and that would prevent, impede the wife getting, contracting H.I.V. from the husband, and again, these are not things we grab because its being done in the U.S. or is done in Europe and in other countries, there is evidence-based data that shows that pre-exposure prophylaxis has a ninety-eight to ninety-nine percent of mitigating H.I.V. transmission, H.I.V. self-testing has ninety-nine percent accuracy and sensitivity.”

Tonight, we bring you the inspiring story of sixty-one-year-old Caryl Meighan, who is expressing heartfelt gratitude for being alive after receiving life-saving heart surgery at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Meighan was told last November that he needed surgery to replace a mitral valve in his heart. Earlier today, we sat down with Meighan, who shared that just a few months earlier, he had tragically lost his brother to the same condition. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the full story of Meighan’s remarkable recovery.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

 

The ticking you are hearing is coming from Caryl Meighan’s chest. It’s coming from a valve placed inside his chest. It’s that valve that is keeping him alive today. Meighan is a survivor. About ten months ago, the sixty-year-old began experiencing pain in his chest and a shortness of breath. He sought medical advice and was told that he would need to undergo heart surgery to fix the issue. Meighan was scared.

 

Caryl Meighan, Patient

“Now for me it was very a bit scary because I had lost my brother during the same surgery, similar to that, but the only difference was that he did his surgery in November. Los Angeles, California.  Just six months before I was there. When I mention it to my woman and family members, he sent up some red flags like you sure and where are you? Where are you going to do? I tell him when I’m going to do it at K.H.M.H.”

 

The word ‘surgery’ is alarming enough, but “heart surgery”? That would scare even the bravest soul. But, despite his anxiety about the procedure, Meighan knew he couldn’t continue living in that condition. He recognised that he needed to undergo surgery for the sake of his future and that of his family.

 

 

 

Britney Gordon

“What was like the breaking point for you that really made you think I have to try and do it?”

 

 

 

 

Caryl Meighan

“My mobility, the tiredness, I was feeling it was coming on more and I couldn’t do certain things for myself. I was that was getting into my head. I figured, I gotta deal with this. I start launching more questions to doctor about the surgery and stuff like that. For me, I really made up my mind to do it after I was directed to a patient that had a year or so earlier successfully and go to surgery done by the I’m going to be the same doctor and after speaking to the lady, she’s a little bit older than me.  I felt comfort. I said to myself, if she can do it, I can and then I saw her mobility or she was moving around yes, that’s what I want to do. That was when I decided I’m going to do it.”

 

Meighan’s surgery took place in June at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, and since then he has been recovering. Everything had to be perfect to allow for a high percentage of success. That is why anesthesiologist Lydia Blake and her colleagues had to properly prepare for this life-saving surgery.

 

 

 

Lydia Blake, Anesthesiologist

“I remember we had to cancel him the first month because of the same breathing problem he had  and the day before we did it, I went to visit him with my anesthesiologist that comes Dr. Rice that came for doing the surgery because I told him this is one of my patients that they really need us to put all our eyes and teeths together because he has everything and  he will be a challenge.  And he was a challenge for me just in the intubation after I put on this arterial lines. I had to sit him in a sitting position to do, intubate him, got him, thank God.”

 

Though challenging, Meighan’s surgery was a success. Blake says that Meighan was one of the most difficult cases she’s experienced in her eleven-year career.  But it is success stories like his that make her grateful for the work that she does.

 

Lydia Blake

“I just went on my knees and I thank God and I say, these are the things that make me want to continue to be part of the cardiac team. And not just the cardiac team, but working in KHMH, because we do miracles every day here. Despite everything, we come and we give our all and we do. And the greatest satisfaction is when I see those patients walking out there and remembering me and calling me, Hi, Nurse Blake.”

 

 

And it is because of the nurses and doctors at the K.H.M.H. that Meighen is now able to walk around his house, laugh, and be with his family. For that, he is grateful.  A procedure like this is not unusual for the team at the K.H.M.H. Meighen is around the seventieth open heart surgery patient whose life has been saved by the doctors and nurses.

 

 

 

Dr. Adrian Coye, Cardiologist

“The most important thing is that he had the opportunity to have the procedure done here in Belize to be around his family in very close support. And therefore, again, it justifies what we are continuing to do which is to build, a service advanced cardiac program that will service all our patients in their times of needs and of course in the future we’d be able to do emergency heart surgeries.”

 

 

Although still in recovery, Meighen is ready to hop back into action and live his life to its fullest potential.

 

Caryl Meighan

“I plan to recoup and get back to work as soon as possible, you know. That’s it sitting home is kinda killing me, it’s get, I’m bored already.”

 

 

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

The end of the global AIDS pandemic is within reach and if countries can increase preventive measures and treatment, it can be achieved by 2030. According to the joint United Nations Program on H.I.V. and AIDS, UNAIDS, the Caribbean has displayed substantial progress against H.I.V. since 2010, however, AIDS-related deaths continue to be a concern in several countries including Belize. Today, we spoke with Doctor Russell Manzanero, Director of Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health and Wellness to learn how close Belize is to the endeavour.

 

Dr. Russell Manzanero, Director of Epidemiology Unit, MOHW

“The use of the Dolutegravir, which is a newer medication, which is WHO approved and which we are now using at the ministry and rolled out nationally, that has pretty much shown to be effective. So we rolled that out, Dolutegravir, perhaps eighteen months now. So at this time we will, when we look at the data and we look at how the management is, we’re seeing that the individuals who are on that medication are showing a good response. By that, I mean that if they continue to do their regular checkups, we’re seeing that the viral load is going down. Their CD4 is going up. Clinically, they’re looking well. They’re responding well to it. And we see fewer drug resistance with this new medication. Of course, every time the person has to go in for their checkups, it’s the patient, too, that has to take that time to go back and say, okay I need to check on my liver, my kidneys and everything to ensure that everything is okay.  With this, we do believe that in a span of two years, which should be in the next six months or by the end of the year, we should start seeing a decrease in our mortality. Yes, the numbers might still be as weh we dih see right now. But we should start seeing a decrease in immortality. We’re still trying to throw out the messages of prevention. That has not changed. We have gone as far as introduction of prep now for that purpose, just to make sure that individuals are have an ex armor. Besides having a Condom use and all of that, of course, education, desensitization, the political as well. Now, we also have this armory of prevention with prep. Of course, that is to be used among our serial discordant couples. If you’re in that position, but of course, they’re not anybody to take. You still need to go in, have a little talk with your physician, make sure that you’re a candidate, make sure you do the tests and all of that.”

New H.I.V. infections are on the decline globally, but according to the Joint United Nations Programme on H.I.V. and AIDS, there is still much work to be done to end the pandemic. The disease has been a challenge for the Caribbean for decades, particularly in countries such as Haiti and Jamaica. However, while some countries like Belize have made strides in preventative measures, there is still work to be done to decrease the number of AIDS-related deaths. Doctor Russell Manzanero, Director of Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, provided us with some insight on those numbers.

 

Dr. Russell Manzanero, Director of Epidemiology Unit, MOHW

“For the past years, the numbers for H.I.V. pretty much have plateaued. It has not, I have not seen a decrease in the numbers as other countries have done.  But I haven’t also seen that sharp increase either. So we have maintained or self-retained that like two hundred. It’s not, it differs probably just a little bit or go down and go up. So those numbers have not changed. We still have H.I.V. related deaths.  So that is something that we also are seeing a decline in other areas. But in Belize, we’re still seeing that we do have HIV related deaths yet. Based on what we’re doing, as a ministry and as an entire response, because with the call on the National AIDS Commission and everybody that’s a part of that is how do we address the situation right now? How is it that we’re going to look at what is the best way to address this? To be done and do we need to do more targeted interventions with specific groups? Do we have this epidemic concentrated in a certain population? So those are the things we’re trying to work at.”