Eradicating poverty in the south through health, that's what officials from the Ministry of Health and Pan American Health Organization spent the last three days discussing. But you wouldn't know that from the densely titled event; it's called "integrated multi-disease and inter-sectoral approaches for combating poverty, controlling neglected tropical diseases and improving community health in the southern region of Belize: concepts and opportunities." Obviously a title only Health Minister Jose Coye could love, but speaking at the opening on Monday - the Minister cut to the chase.
Hon. Jose Coye, Minister of Health
"So there is overwhelming evidence that the health for all is certainly the way forward if we are to eradicate poverty. If we are to bring the social fulfillment, the personal well-being, if we are to increase production, there must be health for all. The 21st century has provided us, the world has provided us, with a tremendous amount of information and knowledge which we can now apply to address the problems other than through the biomedical sciences.
While indeed the Ministry has been putting dollars, which we can easily count, into immunization, into vector control, into food safety, and we can measure the results of it but why are we not putting money into the health programs, into health education, into moving towards giving people responsibility, into not only informing them but motivating them and having the action. We need to go to a community based approach, a people intense approach to transform mindsets, to change behavior."
A major priority of the project is the Pan American Health Organization's regional strategic plan framework 2006 to 2015. Personnel from the Ministry of Health, PAHO, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Social Security Board, Social Investment Fund, Toledo Maya Women Council, and the Julian Cho Society participated in the workshop.
