Lottery Boom Fuels Healthcare Expansion in Belize

The Boledo numbers are in, and they’re big. Belize Government Lotteries Ltd. is reporting massive sales, over one hundred and eight million dollars in its first year, and projections show that figure could jump to one hundred and thirty-seven million dollars this year. That’s nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in just two years. But it’s not only about the winnings, those funds are also helping to finance major national projects, including healthcare through the NHI program. In fact, BGLL has already contributed twenty-two million to support expanded primary care across Belize.

 

Janel Espat, Managing Director, Belize Government Lotteries

“Our first calendar year, our sales were a hundred and eight million [dollars]. We are hoping, by all indications, that for the second year our sales will be a hundred and thirty-seven million dollars. So, for two years, that’s two hundred and forty-five million dollars in sales.”

 

Reporter

“Now, how does it work, what’s the mechanism to transfer the funds that are to go to NHI and the other projects. I know sports is also one. How is BGLL is contributing to all of this?”

 

Janel Espat

“Well, currently, we’ve made contributions to the Government of Belize, specifically for the NHI project, in the amount of twenty-two million dollars. At BGLL, our responsibility ends with making the disbursement. How it’s channeled that would be something that the Ministry of Finance would make the decision for.”

 

Dr. Ramon Figueroa, General Manager, National Health Insurance

“We deal with the overall budget for the NHI, so we get a combination of general revenue, government’s contribution from general revenue. I didn’t know how much came from the Boledo. We present our budget and then government decides how much is allocated to NHI and they know how much comes from the Boledo and how much comes from the general revenue. You know we’ve been at this NHI rollout since 2001 and the biggest limiting factor has been the ability to finance the rollout of healthcare across the country, primary care. So when government decided to have the lottery as part of the finance for NHI, that is what has allowed us, then, to be able to expand to Orange Walk and now doing the work in the Cayo District which, I have to say, got a little bit more complicated than we expected. It’s a bigger district, a more dispersed population and it’s taking us a little more time than we expected. But the contributions from the government has allowed us now to be able to move forward with the expansion of primary care for the whole country.”