Health Workers Trained in Palliative Care to Improve End-of-Life Services

Medical professionals across the country have been engaged in training sessions this week on Palliative care, also known as end-of-life care. The training sessions are being hosted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and facilitated by the Pan American Health Organization PAHO. The aim of the workshops is to improve the level of care being delivered to terminally ill patients, to make them comfortable in their final days, and to help them pass with dignity. Karen Roberts, PAHO’s non-communicable disease advisor, said that the participants come from various tiers of primary care professionals to ensure that the improvement is felt at all levels.

We also spoke with Dr. Dingle Spence, the facilitator of the training, and Dr. Anya Moguel, a Palliative care specialist from the Cayo district, about the training content and its impact.

PAHO notes that while Belize has made significant progress in expanding access to palliative care services, gaps remain, including the absence of local radiotherapy services forces many patients to seek treatment abroad or across borders.