But the public backlash has been tremendous, so would the Ministry do it the same way again? CEO Sabido stressed that the regulations are in the interest of public health and wellness - but they could have done a better job explaining the initiative:
Julio Sabido, CEO, Ministry of Health & Wellness
"We see it as a benefit to the Belizean people, not as a hindrance. And like I said we want safe access. I will put something into context which I think the directors, the technical staff of the Ministry of Health and Wellness have done already: If I have abdominal pain. for example and I go to the pharmacy and I get started with 200mg of ibuprofen. I took it, it eased, went away for 2-3 hours, and it came back. So I go back and get an 800mg ibuprofen, it goes away for another couple of hours. But I didn't go and see what the cause of the pain was. It could have been appendicitis and because I masked that pain with the pain killer I am delaying the health seeking that I should have done. By the time I get to the hospital that appendix might have already burst. I am just putting it into context. There are reasons why we want them to do that. And in hindsight we should have explained those reasons and we would have gotten better results. But at the end of the day what we want is safe access and for the people to be aware of what they should do to get medical assistance."
