Tonight, we turn our attention to a growing health concern that’s quietly affecting some of the hardest-working people in our country, our farmers and field workers. The Ministry of Health and Wellness is sounding the alarm on a condition called Non-traditional Chronic Kidney Disease, a serious illness that’s not linked to diabetes or high blood pressure, but rather to long hours in the sun, dehydration, and exposure to agrochemicals. On Wednesday, the ministry hosted a sensitization session in Belize City, bringing together employers and health professionals to raise awareness and push for better protections for workers on the ground. Minister Kevin Bernard says this is now a top priority, as Belize joins other Central American nations in tackling what’s becoming a regional health crisis.
Dr. Jorge Polanco, Director of Hospital Services, Ministry of Health
“In the Central American region it has been found there are an increasing number of young persons, especially field workers, males in their productive age appearing with chronic kidney disease. The initial study has shown an association, a relationship with their condition of work in the field, for example extreme exposure to heat stress, long periods of dehydration, absorption of heavy metals and pesticides used the in agriculture field. This raised the attention of the ministers of health a few years ago and in 2018 the ministers of health of central America gave a mandate for the countries to put together plans and intervention to address these environmental risks.”
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“After reading up on it I realized there is a strong possibility it is affecting our Belizean population. I can speak from the agriculture perspective, especially in the sugar industry where you have cane cutter working from five in the morning to twelve in the afternoon in the blazing sun. If you just walk without working the fields you will feel the heat. That is why the cane cutters will ask for a big coke and food, first it was chips now they are asking for food. Cane cutting is a slaving, inhumane job. If you are not properly hydrated and cutting cane in the heat, you can understand the effects of those conditions on a human being.”