Government Earmarks $30 Million to Train Belizean Healthcare Workers

The Government has earmarked thirty million dollars for a ten-year investment aimed at training more Belizean healthcare professionals and reducing the country’s dependence on foreign medical personnel.  Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard says the funding will support the training of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers over the next decade. The initiative is intended to gradually fill longstanding vacancies within the public health system, particularly in specialized services and rural communities.  Bernard says the investment will be budgeted over the ten-year period, allowing the Government to continuously identify and support Belizeans pursuing careers in priority areas of healthcare.

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness: “The government had approved, through Cabinet a $30 million investment program over a 10-year period for the next 10 years where we will put out more training opportunities, more scholarship opportunities for people to be able to be trained in nursing and other specialties. And so we want to ensure that when you look down the road in Belize in the next 10 years we have equipped individuals to fill those gaps. Because as you know, we have health professionals who are aging as well and they will be retiring so we have to fill that gap. And so it’s a cycle, it’s a constant cycle. We are looking at the Philippines, for example, to bring in get some nurses from the Philippines to come in and help to fill the gaps. We have been discussing within the Nicaraguan government as well to try and see how we could get some specialized doctors to come in to fill the gaps. There’s need for us to be able to fill this human, we are even looking at our partners in Mexico.”

The initiative comes as Belize continues discussions on the future of the Cuban Medical Brigade, whose doctors, specialists and nurses currently fill important gaps across the country. Bernard says that while foreign medical support remains valuable, Belize must continue building its own pool of trained professionals.  As part of that effort, Bernard says the government has been affording doctors to go abroad for specialization skills. 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness: “But we have constantly been doing things as a ministry. One, we have been sending out our doctors to be specialized. I know that right now we have about, I think five doctors who will be coming back. Two in nephrology, I think two in obstetrics, and I think one pediatrician. We had recently Dr. Cawich who is a pediatric oncologist who came back and she is now at KHMH and others that are out training in radiology and so forth in Taiwan. We will have some of these people coming back but that’s just the part of ensuring that we are equipping our doctors. But at the same time, the government is also looking at alternative areas and countries that we can tap into. For example, a recent visit in Honduras, we have the opportunity where we’re hoping that after further discussions, because we just started the discussion we could look at our Belizeans to be able to have access as well.”

Bernard says the Government is also exploring similar arrangements with other countries and institutions.