Heart Disease Belize’s Top Killer of 2024  

Cardiovascular diseases have been a leading cause of death in Belize for the past five years, and according to the Ministry of Health, they were the top killer in 2024. The ministry warns that serious conditions like hypertension and enlarged hearts can be deadly, especially for those who smoke or indulge in too many sugary and fatty foods. Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard outlined the ministry’s action plan to combat this threat in 2025. Here’s more on that.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“If you notice that  Belize signed on to the HEARTS initiative last year. We launched the HEARTS initiative and it is very important that we address the issue of cardiovascular diseases that’s affecting our people, yes. And while it has been one of the highest, I believe it’s almost as in rank with the road traffic accidents that are also killing more people. And so we have to ensure that we’re eating healthy, we’re introducing healthy eating habits in the schools. As you know we’re phasing the issue of sugary bands in schools. We have to do that. We launched our nutrition policy, all about making sure people start to think  and understand how you carry yourself, how you eat. So that we could start to live healthy. A lot of us drink the Coke every day. We eat a lot of sweet every day. We have to also look at our lifestyle and our eating habits. Growing up people feel like, Oh when you are, when you have a, a bigger weight. Then you’re more prone to heart attack, But  you have younger people dying from heart attack. Because we have to look at the intake of food that we have, the type of fatty foods we are eating, and start to eat more healthier. And that’s one of the things that the ministry is working hard in ensuring that we push the healthy initiatives, not only in the schools, but at the workplace, at every facility that go to, everywhere we are around. Trying to eat healthy, and we’re encouraging people to follow the nutrition guidelines that we have set out as a nation as well to try and help that our people could start to eat much healthier and live happier and longer lives.”