Analysis of investment process in health and the environment in Belize

ABSTRACT

Analyses the investment process in health and the environment in Belize. Suggests that among the tasks needed to be done to assist the planning process within the sectors of health and the environment is the conduct of cost-benefit analyses for both sectors so that the policy makers can assess the value of pursuing or not pursuing specific policy strategies. Further suggests that there is a need for various institutions involved in the health sector to institutionalize a planning process for that sector. The analysis, identifies the macroeconomic aspect and investment policies in health and the environment; identifies and characterizes the principal players involved in the investment process and their interrelationships; looks at the evolution and composition of expenditures in health and the environment as well as the level of compatibility between expenditures in health and the environment; and outlines the investment process cycle. Recommends, the need to quantify specifically the current economic cost to Belize of its existing health policies; the need to conduct cost-benefit analyses within the environmental sector but on a specific subject areas basis; the need to examine alternatives for the imposition of a National Comprehensive Health Plan; and the need to prioritize and rationalize the allocation of resources and the planning process within the health sector. (AU)