World Pediatrics Steps In for Belize’s Children

This week, Belize Specialist Hospital joined forces with World Pediatrics Belize for their annual Pediatric Surgery Mission, a program that’s giving Belizean families access to life-saving care they might not otherwise afford. Around sixty patients were screened this year, and nearly half of them went under the knife for critical procedures. Earlier today, News Five’s Britney Gordon stopped by the hospital to learn more about how this initiative is changing lives. Here’s her report.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

This year, Belizeans have faced heartbreaking losses. Seven-month-old Emiliano Flores passed away after a brave fight against a rare disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. And just last week, the country mourned again when one-year-old Victoria Olivares died while receiving treatment in Mexico, an effort funded by a community-driven campaign. These stories are painful reminders of the struggles many children face every day. That’s why initiatives like the annual pediatric surgery mission are so critical. Organized by World Pediatrics Belize, the program screens young patients and partners with local hospitals to provide life-saving care. This year, the surgeries will be hosted at the Belize Specialist Hospital.

 

Khandice Joseph, World Pediatrics, Belize

“So our patients are primarily from birth to twenty-one years, and we are here this week to do surgeries, pediatric cases that cannot be done by the local team here in Belize. So our team came in on Saturday, and like I said, we did the screening on Sunday and we are here to do renal biopsies, bowel obstruction, gallstones, Hirschsprung disease cases gastro esophageal reflux cases. These are cases that are reviewed and then they decide which surgeries will take place.”

 

Sixty patients ranging from infants to teenagers were treated this week, with about twenty-five receiving surgeries by an expert team of doctors. The Belize Specialist Hospital has been in operation since 2008, starting as a gastro clinic, but has since expanded, tripling its services in the last five years.  Ray-Anne Anderson, Head of Nursing at the Belize Specialist Hospital, tells us more.

 

Ray-Ann Anderson, Head of Nursing, Belize Specialist Hospital

“We are still expanding some more as you know, the initiative with WPP here, we also are starting a blood drive. We are trying to push for this to be an annual thing. So on October twenty-fifth, we’ll be having a blood drive here. Free to everybody that wants to come and donate some blood. But over the past five years, we have expanded so much more and we are still doing so in trying to bring other doctors in to provide services that can’t be done here in Belize.”

 

World Pediatrics travels around the globe offering surgeries to children in dire need. By partnering with a host hospital, the team can access more patients and save more lives. Robson Moreira, CEO of Medical Services Corporation, says the partnership was supposed to last just one day. But after seeing how many children needed surgery, they extended it to an entire week.

 

Robson Moreira, CEO, Alliance, Medical Services Corporation

“It’s very beautiful to see the kids being helped or the whole country being supporting here what’s so interesting because they asked it for a day. And now we are providing four days, so we are extending to four more days. We close all our business to be able to provide them the space to do the service for four more days after that. And it’s been a success. It’s very. It. It’s very feeling, heart feeling to come here. I’ve been here at night and see the families, seeing the kids being helped and that things you so more than the business itself, it’s interesting to see how can we help Belize in this case.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.