Fighting cancer takes more than medicine, it takes a plan, a purpose, and a passionate community. Today, the Belize Cancer Society held its annual general meeting, celebrating milestones and confronting the challenges of the past year. But the big news? The launch of a bold five-year plan aimed at boosting early diagnosis and building stronger international partnerships. President Kim Simplis-Barrow says it’s all about saving lives and strengthening support for those in the fight against cancer. Here’s more from today’s event.
Kim Simplis-Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society
“We really focused on what we have accomplished and where we want to go, which really ties into our strategic plan for the next five years. And one of the main focus that we want to do, is we really want to focus on prevention and healthy living. It’s so very important that we start targeting or looking at our younger generations and educating them on living healthier lives. We know that when you’re diagnosed with cancer at the early stage, we it’s easily treatable than when you’re diagnosed at that late stage. And so that. It is our focus. We, of course, want to continue our partnerships with the Government of Belize, and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. We want to continue our partnerships with all our organizations that we work with, and of course with the community. It’s important that we continue to access not just local partnerships, but international partnerships. Why? Because with international partnerships, we get access to training. We get access to the equipment, we get access to helping our healthcare providers be more effective and efficient in diagnosing cancer and in, in the quickness of getting our cancer patients to care. We continue with our navigation objective, which the Cancer Society, of course, is in education institutions. We provide education. We provide a navigation process for cancer patients so that they, we all know that when we’re diagnosed with cancer, it’s overwhelming. And so whatever we can do to help a cancer patient navigate this process, it is part of our mission.”
