BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 13, 2021– The Belize Cancer Center Dangriga (BCCD) has been operating in Belize, at 11 Pine Street in Dangriga, since October 2008, and now, to make critical cancer care services more accessible to patients in the north, west, and east, there is now a Belize Cancer Center in Belize City, on Mercy Lane. It’s a memorable day for the Belize Cancer Society and its president, former Speaker of the House, Laura Tucker-Longsworth, who said the society has been working tirelessly for years to improve cancer care in Belize.
Back in 2008 Dr. Ellsworth Grant, a Belizean oncology specialist living in Los Angeles, USA, and Belizean nurse, Dellone Pascasio, teamed up to bring cancer care directly to patients who are suffering from the serious disease. Cancer care is extremely expensive, and added to the medical costs is the cost of travel and hotel accommodations that the sick and their families had to bear as they sought care outside of Belize, mainly in Guatemala City and Merida.
In its mission statement, the BCCD says its purpose “is to improve lives and restore hope through holistic oncology services”, and that its healthcare facility welcomes “all persons who enter our doors seeking help.” Over the last thirteen years, many, in the hundreds, have done so — seeking care at costs they could never find elsewhere. The facility receives some sponsorship from partners, and persons who get treatment are asked to cover as much of their bill as they can.
The Cancer Center in Belize City is based on the BCCD’s model, and it came into being largely because of private sponsorship and the support of the BCCD, which will be running the clinic. Ms. Tucker-Longsworth said her organization embraced the philosophy of the BCCD because they too “believe cancer care is a human right.”
The Belize Cancer Society, the owners of the new clinic, will provide administrative services, while the BCCD will be in charge of delivering the medical care, the consultation and chemotherapy services. A nurse from the BCCD, Nurse Paukine Okolo, will oversee the operations at the clinic three times per week.