Roxxane Marin, an employee at the Women’s Department, who also serves the Disability Desk under that department is tonight asking for your help. Marin has a hidden disability and has been living with fibroids for the last twenty years. The medical condition has become aggressive, and she is in dire need of surgery. Unable to cover the cost of the medical procedure, Marin is requesting financial assistance from anyone willing to assist. Here is what she told us today.
Roxxane Marin
Roxxane Marin, Fibroid Patient
“Financial assistance is what I am asking. I have fibroids. I have had it for the last twenty-years. Since November 2022 it has become aggressive. Life has definitely changed, not for the best. Lot of anxiety, a lot of time off the up and down to the doctor, a lot of medication since January of this year. Nothing has been successful and so I had to come to the realization that there is no way around it. I have to do the surgery. It is very expensive. I cant afford it and that is why I am coming to the media to ask for assistance, from everybody, Belizeans at home and abroad, every body in the public service, private sector, friend, family, nonfamily, people nuh realize dah Belize if yon uh have it, ih nuh wah work for you. Dah Belize you the live from paycheck to paycheck and ih important now to realize that savings dah something weh nuh matter how small you do it try do it. But in this instance I am coming to the public to ask for help fih get the surgery done. I am giving myself until the end of may to come up with the money. It is over nine thousand dollars. I have a flier I am asking everybody to circulate on social media and as much as what I could get help with that is what I am coming to people to ask for help.”
Today at the International Social Work Conference hosted by the University of Belize, the C.E.O. of the Belize Central Prison shared that up to eighty-one prisoners currently require additional assistance regarding their mental health. Murillo explained the issues the prisoners suffer from range low to high levels of severity and that most of these prisoners are in a manageable state. He said that although there is an in-house psychiatrist, the prison would benefit from the appointment of another.
Virgilio Murillo
Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O., Belize Central Prison
“The eighty-one that I referred to in the discussion a while ago are what we consider psychiatric patients or people with psychiatric problems. Of that, not all of them are chronic or serious, so to speak. You might have twenty-five of them, I think, if my memory serves me well that are considered chronic or acute, and then there’s about twenty-right of them that are medium. The remainder would be considered low and they are now back in the general population. So they have reached a point where they are manageable and they are not presenting any problem for the prison, so to speak.”
Reporter
“You have the resources. I think you have one doctor, but I don’t know if there’s specialization that’s required to treat them.”
Virgilio Murillo
“No. And we have one psychiatrist which is a government psychiatrist. And he comes once a week to offer psychiatric treatment to these patients whether it’s medication or evaluation. So they are being dealt with, but of course I’m sure the prison will be able to use another psychiatrist if there woul be one. Unfortunately, the country doesn’t have many psychiatrists that would want to work in the prison. That’s for sure.”
Reporter
“Do they have to be isolated, separated?”
Virgilio Murillo
“Not in all cases. The acute ones, the ones that are considered acute, yes. And we would only do that to prevent them from harming others, or maybe even harming themselves, or getting harmed by others because of their behavior.”
Reporter
”Have people developed it in there or do they come with those issues?”
Virgilio Murillo
“No. They come to the prison with that. As a matter of fact, these are discovered on admission to the prison because that is a part of, that is a part of the screening process when a prisoner is admitted into the prison. So they’re screened for things like that. And of course we know these things because remember, we have what you call the Belize Health Information System. And the prison has access to that system. It’s a countrywide system. And we can go and review their records. The not me personally, but the prison medical officer can go in and see a person’s medical and mental health situation. And he can prepare to provide for his needs in that regard.”
The month of May highlights awareness for many causes. Mental health, skin cancer and hypertension are few of the health awarenesses that the world is paying a little more attention to during the next few weeks. But this month also looks at the plight of people living with Lupus, an autoimmune disease with no cure. This week, Sabreena Daly sat down with Dejanira Thompson, Vice President of the Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis Association. She found out more about the illness and what the association is doing to provide the necessary support. Here’s that story.
Dejanira Thompson
Dejanira Thompson, Diagnosed with Lupus “I remember my mom getting the call and she started crying and I was just ignorant to the fact that I’m like, well, yeah, it’s positive, but like so what? Like, I’ll just take the pills and I’ll be fine. And not knowing that a month from there, my whole life changed.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Dejanira Thompson recounts what it was like learning at the age of fourteen that she was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease.
Dejanira Thompson “My world was literally shifted upside down and I couldn’t eat the things that I wanted that I was used to. I couldn’t be in the sun. I couldn’t do a lot of things. There was a point where I couldn’t even get as excited for things because the emotions would trigger a flare up.”
The incurable medical condition takes various forms. For some, Lupus may be difficult to detect because of its asymptomatic presence. For others, Lupus is quite evident and manifests itself as an organ-eating disease that can be fatal.
Jorge Hidalgo
Dr. Jorge Hidalgo, Internist
“The traditional presentation of lupus is when we go into the internet, we see the famous butterfly rash in the face, skin rashes, and pain in the joints. That is the, the, the most common, figure that we see on the internet. But unfortunately, lupus can be presented in, in a silent mode and, also difficult to diagnose sometimes. Sometimes we have a very atypical presentation of lupus that even takes a couple of years to actually confirm the diagnosis because the presentation is so atypical, you know? But lupus can range from asymptomatic conditions with minimal symptoms to something that can be really aggressive and can compromise a patient really badly.”
Dejanira Thompson
“There are three different types. They have the SLE, which is the skin condition; the systemic lupus, that’s internal, it affects all the organs. They have the discoid lupus, which is the skin one, and then they have the ones that affect the kidneys directly. I have two of those. I have the systemic one and the discoid, which is why I have a lot of scars because of what happened in 2015.”
It’s been more than a decade since Thompson’s diagnosis. The worst of it was in 2015, when she fell into a coma that she has little memory of.
Dejanira Thompson “In 2015 was the scariest one, I would say. My lungs got affected. And I went into septic shock that caused me to go into a coma for eight days.”
Sabreena Daly
“How old would you have been around this time?”
Dejanira Thompson “I was 20. That was in 2015. I was 20.”
Dr. Jorge Hidalgo
“She is a fighter. I’m really glad that she is in the state she is right now. But, she had some periods in the journey of lupus that was a really difficult time for her. She was even admitted into the ICU. She was in an induced medical coma because of complications of lupus. But I’m glad that the team of people that work in the ICU for her, We managed to help her.”
Dejanira Thompson
“I guess it’s so traumatic, and that is why I always say that I tie in lupus with mental health, because it’s very important. I think it was so traumatic that my brain tries to protect me from remembering that, and so I vaguely remember it when people ask me were you in pain? I don’t remember being in pain.”
The Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis Association is an organization that’s seeking to spread awareness and support to the growing number of persons diagnosed and living with Lupus. The association has membership of almost one hundred persons living with this autoimmune disease. Six of seven executives are diagnosed with Lupus. President of the organization, Arlette Gomez shared why this should not be overlooked.
Arlette Gomez
Arlette Gomez, President, Lupus and RA Association “It is very concerning. And what is most concerning too, though, is that a lot of people, there are people walking around with it and not coming out and not. saying I have it, you know, it’s not a stigma. It’s not a shame. You, you are, you are battling something that is very debilitating and, uh, very mentally hard. So come let us help you.”
Dr. Jorge Hidalgo
“Lupus belongs to a condition that is also like rheumatoid arthritis. And these types of conditions are in the same category. And for Belize to be in a small country, the number of patients we see with lupus and all these rheumatological conditions is a lot.”
Sabreena Daly
“Is that concerning to you, doctor?”
Dr. Jorge Hidalgo
“Well, it’s a concern because, of course, there are many things. One is the ability to diagnose. Second, also some of the patients with lupus are required to be on medications, on several medications on a daily basis. Also sometimes, as I mentioned before, the condition can range from minimal symptoms to something very aggressive.”
Sabreena Daly
“Talk to me about why it was important for you to be a part of an association that advocates for persons to understand what lupus is, and of course, um, the support that is needed for persons battling with this.”
Dejanira Thompson
“So, I believe I’ve had it for 15 years. I didn’t think nobody thought that I would survive that long if I’m being honest. And so if I can do it, others can. And that’s the whole point behind the association. That if we can do it, and not everybody has that support like I have in those members, right? And that’s what we want to offer. Let us get together. Hey, you’re not alone. If this doesn’t work for you, let’s get you to the right person. Let’s get you the correct people that can donate. Cause we’re not, we’re not rich by any means, right? That is why we ask for donations. That is why we do these May activities to raise funds because the medications are very expensive.”
During the month of May, the association ramps up its campaign to spread awareness about Lupus and encourages supporters to give in any way that they can. May eighteenth is recognized as World Lupus Day and the association is asking the public to gather in Belize City and walk in support of persons fighting this illness.
Arlette Gomez
“We’re hoping to have that walk on the 18th of May. We usually walk in the evenings because the sun is not our friend. And so our walk usually starts at five in the evening, when the sun is about to go down. And we’re hoping to have that on the 18th of this month. Um, and it normally starts from the Civic Center and goes through downtown to Memorial Park. We ask people to buy the shirts, we ask, um, companies to encourage their staff to buy, or we ask, um, Companies to buy them for their staff and have them wear them on our pop day, uh, which is May 10th. And May 10th is also World Lupus Day. And then if the, if the, if the, um, companies buy the shirts for you, then, you know, you can give a small donation to the association.”
The Belize Electricity Limited is figuring out how it will navigate through the dilemma of maintaining the country’s power supply. Out in San Pedro where the tourism season is still at its peak, there are concerns of potential health issues should people consume perishables that have gone bad. This evening, Area Representative Andre Perez says that he looks to B.E.L. to solve the issue, but he wants other questions answered as well.
Via phone: Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“Many things come into play, though. We’re talking about all kinds of things, even health issues come into play, especially with the heat right now. You have a lot of food poisoning. You’re hearing people dumping things out of their fridge. It’s very serious and it’s cause for concern, and I am just afraid that this can be something looming up ahead and the way how the B.E.L company is letting us know that they are going to be load-shedding out over the country and says that there is a problem and we need to address it. We’re extremely concerned as it relates to tourism as well – extremely important. Of course, this is still the busy season. This is not the slow season as yet because we are very busy and extremely concerned. According to what we have been briefed, B.E.L. is pushing aggressively to install a massive generator here on Ambergris Caye. I think it’s about a 20-megawatt-sized generator, and they’re saying that they’re hoping that they can have it up and running by the end of May, and we are hopeful. Two things here: one is that this is fossil fuel type of generator, which is not really helping at all in terms of what we are as a community that’s trying to move away from fossil fuels, right, in terms of electricity. But secondly, given the urgency of it, it needs to be installed because I’m telling you, it would be grief if we get affected here furthermore, and It can threaten not only the tourism sector, but indeed our economy. While you might blame Mexico for not providing, we have to look as well at the infrastructure. What has B.E.L done in the past 15 years? What caused these problems because the three outages caused is not by C.F.E, which is the Mexican Commission that provides electricity. It is showing that it is part of the infrastructure. So this is a concern firstly, as I see it, we have a concern here as it relates to the infrastructure that has not been addressed. And I think it’s manifesting itself now that San Pedro is actually consuming so much energy at this point in time.”
Marion Ali
Are people buying their own generators?
Andre Perez
“Lots of people have been buying up the generators right now, but that’s an additional expense that we don’t need, but we have to deal with it. When you drive around town here – yesterday when it was in the dark, a lot of people had these generators running, but this is a cost that nobody’s budgeting for, so it’s serious and healthwise.”
The Ministry of Health and Wellness received a one-point eight million U.S. dollar donation. This donation came from donors Edward and Patricia Lord, members of the Belizean diaspora, and Build Belize Incorporated. It consisted of equipment such as medical and birthing beds, defibrillators, patient monitors, infusion pumps, and vital sign monitors to be distributed across the country. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
For husband and wife, Edward and Patricia Lord, upgrading Belize’s healthcare system is a primary concern. Having worked in the US healthcare system for over ten years, the Belizean American couple understands the cost and effort it takes to elevate the standard of healthcare. With assistance from the Belizean diaspora and Belize Build Incorporated, the couple was able to gift the ministry over one million dollars worth of supplies. Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard expressed his gratitude.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
“Let me first of all start by thanking Mr. Edward and Patricia Lord on their generous support and the people in the diaspora who also supported them. But it is their vision that really saw this through and we were happy to partner with them in terms of sourcing of the funding to get the shipping done. But definitely as the list of items, I cannot express how grateful we are as a country, as a people and as a ministry in receiving this very much needed equipment. As you can see, mentioned a lot of these things are going to help to improve service delivery to patients, not only at KT image, but across the country. And so it means a lot to us. When you talk about Additional ICU beds birthing beds, defibrillators patient monitors all these things that have been donated really equipment that is always in need and demand at our facility if we are to provide good healthcare.”
Although the handing-over ceremony occurred at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, the equipment will be distributed to several health facilities across the country.
Kevin Bernard
“There’s a list of identified areas that I know when mister Lord they had visited, they know, they have identified specific equipment that should be going to And as I had said in my message that when I spoke to them initially they have asked that we ensure that some of these equipment goes exactly where they have been recommended where to. So some of them are in various parts of the country, Western region hospital or regions and community hospitals. I don’t have that list in terms of exactly what’s going where, but I know that they have identified what is needed, where it’s needed and how then, so my CEO will be working along with them. So we are working with the team to ensure that these things are distributed in a timely manner, so we don’t want them to be sitting in a container, but they are now, the next step is to get them deployed into where it needs to go, so that we can start to utilize these donations.”
Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Anthony Mahler, said that while this donation will improve Belize’s ability to provide healthcare to visitors, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Belizeans is a priority.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
“It just gives us more equipment to give better service in all our hospitals and public clinics and centers that we treat people. So not only for the tourists, for me, but we need to get these things and make the necessary investments for our people first. And then we will be able to do the rest for the tourists.”
As the donation came from members of the diaspora, Mahler reflected on the work Belizeans outside the country have done to ensure the well-being of friends and family in Belize.
Anthony Mahler
“The diaspora unit is a conduit for people all around the world to be able to support us back home here in Belize. Whatever they’re sending back. So it could be in terms of donations. We have gotten sneakers, we’ve gotten equipment like this. We’ve gotten food supply. We’ve gotten a lot of stuff donated through Bill Belize and through the Diaspora Unit. The Diaspora already sends back close to two hundred fifty million through the official sources. That’s not the amount that comes through barrels and envelopes and suitcases and stuff like that. They contribute a tremendous amount. But these things are expensive to move. And so we did our part in terms of helping to raise the money for them to be able to ship it.”
Bernard said that the ministry will ensure that the equipment is properly stored and cared for. He hopes that more collaborations like this can occur in the future.
Kevin Bernard
“As I said, that we will make sure that these donated items are properly taken care of and distributed on a timely manner, so that, yes, we don’t want to see any of these things damaged. It took a lot of work, 1. 8 million U. S. dollars, close to 4 million dollars, and we need to ensure that these equipments are protected, but at the same time put to use. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Reporter
“Will you be collaborating with them in the future?”
Kevin Bernard
“Absolutely. Of course, we are grateful to them, and as Minister Mahler also mentioned to Ambassador Murphy, who, again, through Build Belize Inc. And in support with the Lords we are very much open to ensure that we continue to collaborate. I know that as they mentioned, there were some little inks in between the whole process. It took 10 years for them to really get this to where it is now and those are the little things that we have to figure out. But at the end of the day, they have my support as a minister of health. They have my ministry support, and we are going to continue to lobby and accept things like these. Because at the day, it benefits not me personally, but it benefits the Belizean people.”
Today, up to seventy thousand dollars’ worth of medical supplies and equipment were donated to Belize by the Unites States government as part of the Humanitarian Assistance Program, supported by the Security Cooperation Office at the U.S. Embassy. This donation included various items such as mannequins for CPR training, vials for containing blood and defibrillators. Practitioners will undergo several training sessions to ensure that Belizean healthcare providers are informed on how to properly handle the equipment, as well as prepare for its use. News Five’s Britney Gordon stopped by the event earlier today to see the donation.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Today, several boxes of medical supplies and equipment were handed over to Belize as part of the Humanitarian Assistance Program in the United States. This program seeks to alleviate poverty by providing food, shelter, safe drinking water, improved sanitation and hygiene, emergency healthcare services, child protection programs, and education to countries in need of aid. Michelle Kwan, U.S. Ambassador to Belize, spoke with us about the significance of this donation.
Michelle Kwan
Michelle Kwan, U.S. Ambassador to Belize
“We are witnessing a donation made by the Humanitarian Assistance Program, supported by the Security Cooperation Office at the U.S. Embassy. this is donations to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and it’s ensuring that we are providing essential goods medical devices, as you can see, from the babies to other things, from nurse caps to providing support to the Belizeans. The humanitarian assistance program, um, since 2021 has donated over five million U.S. Dollars to Belize. And today is, I have to say, one of my favorite programs because being able to provide these essential needs medical devices, you could see, you know, to me, I look to my right and there’s a baby, right? And it really helps People educate themselves on CPR for pediatric health, but these donations are so important.”
Doctor Francis Morey, Deputy Director of Hospital Services Allied Health, said that training practitioners on how to use the equipment will be the next step in this program and that healthcare providers from various parts of the country will be invited to participate.
Francis Morey
Dr. Francis Morey, Deputy Director, Hospital Services Allied Health
“We have mannequins for training in pediatrics, neonatal care. We have mannequins for adult training. The U. S. government has donated this equipment as a follow up agreement that they had. They continue to support us in doing training. They do basic life support training for us, for our physicians and nurses. We have partnerships with other organizations that do training in emergency triage, basic emergency care. These equipment support what we need on the ground to train our physicians and nurses.”
Britney Gordon
“Where will these supplies and equipment be implemented?”
Dr. Francis Morey
“These are mostly for the regional and community hospitals. So when we do trainings, we invite physicians and nurses from everywhere, from all the district hospitals, the polyclinics the help post. For them to do, get up the basic training and come up to, to part out what is happening currently in the world.”
The donation included a variety of supplies, such as necessities and lifesaving equipment.
Dr. Francis Morey
“I believe there’s, we have some six pediatric mannequins, six adult mannequins, we have some, about three or four defibrillators, an EKG machine, cardiac monitors, and some other general stuff that we use for, while we do the trainings and for hospital care.”
The Belize Medical Laboratory is set to undergo some much-needed retrofitting and renovations. This comes as a collaboration between the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Wellness, with funding from the European Union. The overall objective of this ten million U.S. dollar program is to elevate the health services in Belize. The facility will be retrofitted to create more space, ensure that building safety standards are met and updated with environmentally friendly technology. Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness, shared his excitement over the launch of the project.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
“This has been something that yes, indeed, has taken a bit long, but I am very happy that we are, we have reached this milestone today where the EU through the support of PAHO as well, has been able to graciously afford us almost one point three plus million dollars worth of retrofitting at the Central Medical Lab. As the, since the at the Central Medical Lab, there has been a lot of issues with the facility. wise and in terms of spacing. Even though we have invested in terms of increasing the capacity within the Central America Lab, there’s need for better improvement, better work conditions ensuring that the facility is more climate resilient and so forth. And so this retrofitting, groundbreaking today, I is testament to the commitment that as a government and in the support of our partners in PAHO and EU, we have been able to reach to this milestone. And I know that the staff at CML here are very much eager, as I mentioned for this retrofitting. While, as I said, we have been able to see the improvement within the work that is being carried out here at CML. There have been some issues that, Equipment wise, moral wise, anytime you work in an environment that is not conducive to your environment, to working, then it demoralizes you. And so I felt, as I said in my initial message, when I walked in this building the first time I became the Minister of Health, I myself was disappointed. It was really dilapidated, and so I’m happy that we were able to one, get the director, a director on board, who has also had the vision to see the improvement, to work along with her staff, to make sure that we’re able to better provide a service to the Belizean people. That’s number one, priority. And getting this commitment and finally here today is just the start of us ensuring that we can improve. And the next step is for us to ensure that the Central Medical Lab is accredited by the international partners. And the commitment of the director has said to me that by next year, mid next year, it is her hope that Central Medical Laboratory will be certified by our partners in the region.”
From time to time, the police are blamed for not having adequate transportation resources, particularly in the rural areas, to respond to an incident until long after the situation has played out. Currently, a man whose wife has died in Toledo is laying blame on the police for not being able to bury his loved one because he is repeatedly told that the police do not have a vehicle to transport the body to Ladyville for a post-mortem examination. When he spoke with the media on Wednesday, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams apologized to the family and said he would look into the matter.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I have to apologize to Mr. Choco as you brought that up just a while ago. He did call me yesterday and made a complaint to me and I had promised him that I was going to make some calls and get back to him. But I had been extremely busy and I totally forgot until you mentioned it just a while ago. But I’m going to do that now as I get through from here to see how I can arrange to have his mother transported to Belize City to…”
Reporter
“His wife…”
Chester Williams
“The one who called me was a son, one of them had called me – to have his mother transported to Belize City for the postmortem. We don’t control postmortems. Many people believe that it’s the police department that controls when postmortems are going to be conducted. But that is done by the National Forensic Service, which is a totally different department. We have no control over that. Mr Cho is the head. I know that the National Forensic Service do have a lot of work. We have a number of sudden deaths, then we have murders, then we have persons who die in traffic accidents. And so their hands are extremely full. I can say that. Perhaps that’s the reason why the body is being held up.”
Reporter
“But Mr. Cho told me, “you can contact the police to get a comment about their – the police’s lack of mobiles to transport bodies from P.G. since last week.”
Chester Williams
“That should be no excuse, Jules. If that is the case, it should be no excuse. P.G. police do have mobile and they should be able to transport the body.”
The process of completing postmortem examinations and the timeliness of doing so has also been an issue for families who must wait for a week or longer to get the autopsies of their loved ones. When this happens, it slows down the burial process for those families. Today, Executive Director of the National Forensics Science Service, Gian Cho explained that sometimes they experience a backlog of cases and it has to do with a shortage of personnel.
Gian Cho, Executive Director, National Forensics Science Service
“I would say we’re experiencing backlogs not only because of the higher caseload, and also because one of our medical examiners retired in February, and we’re actively working on trying to fill that vacancy. Vacancies aren’t filled overnight, alright. You have to make sure you get them properly trained, qualified individual. So we went from three medical examiners down to two – two medical examiners on duty. But the particular case this week was really unfortunate because we actually were scheduling the case from last week to do the autopsy – I think it was April 10th. Unfortunately, the police vehicles that were used to transport patients’ bodies from the south of the country were, I believe under repairs or at the mechanic for repairs. So the police actually asked us: “We don’t have the vehicle to transport the cadaver to the morgue all the way here in Ladyville. Can you please postpone?” So the autopsy would have been done from last week if we had the transportation. It’s regrettable, though, that sometimes the communication is not as it should be ‘cause If the police vehicle is down, which we understand, vehicles have mechanical issues, sometimes families would offer, if they have the resources because they would still need to travel to the morgue to I.D the body to receive after the postmortem. So it highlights the need for not only more resources for cadaver transport, cadaver storage, but closer communication with families, with grieving families.”
The Belize Cancer Center Dangriga and the Belize Cancer Society have once again, collaborated with the New York based organization, InterVol, to host the annual Medical Oncology Mission in Belize. Since the fifteenth of April, a team of four oncologists has been working with doctors and patients in Dangriga and Belize City to offer their services and expertise in the field. News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the Belize Cancer Society today to meet the team and learn more about the mission. Here’s the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Founded in 1989 in Rochester, New York, InterVol is an organization dedicated to providing medical supplies and equipment to developing countries. Each year, the organization collects and ships more than eighty-five tons of equipment to countries in dire need of them. The organization has since expanded to provide healthcare across the world by sending teams of doctors to offer their services. Since 2018, Belize has been one of the countries that InterVol has partnered with for this endeavor. Through the Belize Cancer Society and Belize Cancer Center in Dangriga, InterVol has spent the last several days providing care and assistance for cancer patients in the country.
Dellone Pescascio
Dellone Pescascio, C.E.O., Belize Cancer Center Dangriga
“We have a clinical oncology team from Interval, which is it’s a team of five providers four of which are on oncologist, hematologist. They’re visiting from Rochester, New York, and they’ve been visiting us in Belize since about 2018. The purpose of the mission really is an expansion on the provision of care. Oncology services to those patients in Belize that otherwise, have been diagnosed but just needed to have some provider consultation. And then the other part of that is an establishment of, appropriate treatment plans for these patients that are waiting for treatment. We actually operated this time. Dangriga at the Dangriga Cancer Center. And then this is or on Thursday today, we are operating out of the Belize Cancer Society building to provide those clinical services here.”
Leading the team of oncologists is Doctor Saad Jamshed, who specializes in hematology. He said that this mission is one that he is grateful to be a part of each year so that he can share his knowledge and offer his service to patients with limited access.
Saad Jamshed
Dr. Saad Jamshed, Lead Oncologist
“So it dates back to many years. InterVol is one of the volunteer organizations we have in Rochester Regional Health, and we have been coming here and doing different medical camps since the late 2000s. I got involved in coming to the cancer center in 2018. There was a little bit of a gap during covert traveling was difficult, but coming here and seeing patients has been very rewarding. The team here does a phenomenal job of providing care to patients. It’s difficult. We see the challenges patients face. They in and day out that delays the experience two different barriers that they have of all the way from screening, being able to conduct the testing and being able to afford all the care that they need and to be able to be a cancer survivor takes a lot. both not only in the patient, but on the family and multiple stressors. So the team does a nice job over here and providing care locally because I can imagine otherwise it would be difficult to provide all that care here within Belize itself. Without the Cancer Center and Doctor Grant and Sister Dellone.”
Also on the team were doctors Roxana Vlad-Vonica, a prostate cancer specialist and Vatsana Govind Kirtani, who specializes in breast cancer. They explained that working in a different country can be challenging at times, but it’s worth the effort to meet and assist the patients.
Roxana Vlad-Vonica
Dr. Roxana Vlad-Vonica, Oncology Specialist
“To come here was not so difficult. To be able to provide the care that we are used with in the state to the patients here seems to be more challenging for different reason, again, transportation, funding, distance it’s different, but that’s the reason we are here, because we are trying to narrow the gap as much as we can.”
Vatsana Govind Kirtani
Dr. Vatsana Govind Kirtani, Oncology Specialist
“I will say something I found actually very encouraging that every patient that I’ve seen is actually very involved with their health care. They know a lot about themselves. They know about their medication. We get really good and reliable history, and I think that involvement of community for themselves is the first step and they have it down. So that’s great. And I think we can build from there at this point.”
President of the Belize Cancer Society, Kim Simplis-Barrow, expressed her gratitude TO InterVol for the assistance and joining the Belize Cancer Society and the Belize Cancer Center Dangriga’s initiative to ensure that citizens have access to affordable, quality, and effective, cancer care services.
Kim Simplis Barrow
Kim Simplis Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society
“For us, it’s still very important to have a collaboration and partnership with the Belize Cancer Society Cancer Center, Dangriga and with Interval. It’s such a great collaboration and partnership there. Today, I think we’re seeing about twenty-one patients just here at the center. They have been here for over the past four days and so in Dangriga, they were seeing patients as well. It is an opportunity that perhaps some of our Belizeans would not have had and it’s always good to get a second opinion and to have a dialogue with professional oncologists.”
