Yesterday we took you through the new Belize City branch of the Belize Cancer Center where we saw one of their youngest patients ring her bell after completing her chemo treatment. While there we also learned from the CEO that the Cancer Society was concerned for its patients and future patients who rely on out of country treatment options, after an MOU between GOB and the Oharan General hospital in Merida had expired some time ago.
That MOU would cover the hospital bills for pediatric patients undergoing chemo, but now that it has expired, the hospital is not accepting any new Belizean patients. The CEO in the ministry of Health and Wellness reached out to us today to further discuss this matter. He confirmed that they are in the process of renewing the MOU however he says the hospital never stopped accepting new patients, and continues to uphold the terms of the MOU despite its expiration.
Julio Sabido, CEO, Ministry of Health and Wellness
"So first of all when you peruse the copy, you will note that, that MOU was signed on 29 October 2015 and expired on the 30th or sometime they're about of October 2018 so it did not expire two years ago. That is a fallacy that is not correct. Indeed they have reached out to us to try to renew the MOU. By they I mean Belize Cancer center, sorry, Dangriga cancer center and the cancer Society but that is not the way you renew an MOU With a state with a foreign state. That has to go through the ministry of foreign affairs and then they will look at the MOU and vet it so that we can sign. That has been done by the ministry of foreign affairs, who, her excellency CEO Amalia Mai has assisted us last week. We met with the Mexican ambassador to Belize and we have been in discussions with hospital Augustine OHARAN to make preparations for the not only renewal because we have to look at the contents and see if it's the same terms that apply. We have to look at that it can't be unilateral. It has to be something that we look at together to see if we are still in an agreement to the wording of that MOU."
"So we called we spoke to the people in administration at the hospital, and they informed us that indeed they are having some fiscal challenges that is expected to last the remainder of this calendar year, but that no way they are going to turn back any patients from Belize either new or those that are already in treatment so that they can put us at ease, they made the commitment that they are going to continue to see our patients. So I don't know where Mrs Pascascio and Mrs. Longsworth got that information but we had reached out to the hospital to make sure that does not happen."
