BELIZE - CANCER DIAGNOSIS IN BELIZE MAKES FOR A DEATH SENTENCE, WITH SOCIALIZED MEDICINE.

The diagnosis of CANCER in Belize, or expectation of CANCER makes such a diagnosis a DEATH SENTENCE in Belize.  Neither the Public Health Service, or PRIVATE HOSPITALS have the capability of dealing with CANCER.  At any given week, CANCER patient estimates for the 350,000 population occur about seven per week, or one per day.
  The socialized medicine system, concentrates the services for serious illnesses, at KHMH down in the port town on the coast, the old colonial capital.  The system does well with ordinary run of the mill and accidents.  When it comes to CANCER, the delays and tests can run so far behind, that in the case of CANCER. The waits are longer than the patient can wait. Currently the PUBLIC HOSPITAL is running about two months for the reading of CANCER pathology slides.  This may be true for socialized medicine around the world?
  You can take several weeks, to be able to get the necessary tests, in this case BIOPSY, at the Public Hospital the KHMH.  When you get the BIOPSY, the story is not yet over.  The backlog of in house, PATHOLOGY LABS to read the slides is TWO MONTHS.  Cancer patients are either dead, or so far advanced, they cannot be saved anyway by then.  In cancer, the slow service times on critical CANCER diagnosis is the major bottleneck, in good service in the Belize Public Health system.
  The public health doctors refer you to private CLINICS or HOSPITALS.  For the most part, THESE must waste ten days, while they send out the BIOPSY slides for reading by a PATHOLOGIST abroad.  While expensive, some places have charged between $550 for a biopsy and $8000, with the money medical goal of fleecing people. ( a 5 minute procedure done by hand )  TESTS SENT ABROAD MOST OFTEN COME BACK INCONCLUSIVE, meaning the doctors do not have the training, equipment, or capability of finding the source of the cancer to take samples. ( I recently have had to take 3 different biopsies over a month and a half delays ) for a growing tumor ) Even then, these private health services are basically MONEY MILLS, giving patients pills, and running lots of tests, to skim them of their savings.  Should you have CANCER, they will promise you the moon, but often lack the advanced tests they want capacity, and the doctors ACTUALLY with successful experience and capability do not exist, except in the occasional case, that turns out to be a LUCKY FLUKE.  Private clinics excel in rapid service for ordinary ailments, but fall short, based on the diagnostic ability of the particular private doctor. Some are experienced and good, but most are bad.
  Poor people cannot even afford the private services to diagnose the sort of cancer necessary to treat, which is the majority of the population, as just the diagnosis money skimming routine, will run anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in a land where salaries are usually $150 to $300 a week.