Flag of Belize, adopted in 1981, the year of the country's independence.
Belize is one of the world's poorest countries, with little in terms of basic infrastructure. It's health care system is typical of the "fourth world," and yet, there are substantial reforms in the works as of 2011. Belize is a country deeply in debt, with high unemployment and interest rates. Its main exports are fruit and fish. The discovery of oil in 2006 helped the economy expand, and new oil revenues permitted the Health Ministry to create new health care initiatives that seek to expand primary care and control costs.
The Ministry of Health
The Health Ministry of Belize has its work cut out. Employment stands at over 13 percent as of 2011 in a country with the population roughly of Omaha, Nebraska. Life expectancy is 65 years, and the CIA states the risk of infectious disease is "high." What is worse, the poor infrastructure of the country makes transport to the hospital difficult, as Belize has one of the worst records for paving their roads. Nevertheless, the oil money is helping with some new programs to improve health care and insurance. The Ministry of Health has been placed in charge of this project, and it has brought in a Canadian consulting company to begin the reform of the health care scheme.
Basics of the Health Insurance Reform
The reform of the health insurance scheme, as of February 2011, has not been completed according to the Health Ministry. Its main advantages is that it seeks to expand primary care with the end of controlling costs. One important advantage is the creation of a "gatekeeper" that would be able to quickly diagnose an illness and see whether hospitalization is necessary. Given the poverty of the country, efficiency and access to the most rudimentary of care is the priority.
Finance
The new health care regime will tax the employed directly from paychecks in the form of withholding, and the Health Ministry will seek to finance its operations not just through taxes, but also in cooperation with the private sector. The new health care system will be partially public and partially private. The government also is seeking foreign aid to assist in its reform programs.
Information Systems
A major pillar of the new health care scheme is the information system. The Belizean Health Care Insurance system is designed to create a single database for all relevant aspects of health care and insurance. There is a single software package that has several modules, only five at present are operational. They are administrative, clinical, laboratory, supply and pharmaceuticals. The point is to have a "one stop shopping" form of communications software where any health professional can access any patient's information. This is meant to cut down on paperwork and make diagnostics and prescription much easier. This is particularly necessary in Belize because it is a country that speaks many languages and has many ethnic groups living within it. Getting information quickly when patients do not speak the doctor's language is important, especially in Belize.
Tags: health care, Health Ministry, care scheme, care system, expand primary
