BELIZE

Belize's Vulnerability to Natural Disasters

With 386 km (239 miles) of coastline facing the Caribbean, Belize is vulnerable to recurrent and destructive hurricanes during the annual hurricane season (June 1 - November 30). Flooding is another frequent problem due to the long and low lying coastline which houses 45% of the country's population, ports and major industries.

In 2001 Iris, a category 3 destructive hurricane impacted the country causing 22 fatalities and affecting about 10% of the total population. As noted by the Belize National Emergency Management Organization, climate change also poses a significant threat as "large scale land and ocean surface temperature warming is predicted to cause the country to become even more vulnerable to natural disasters."¹

Belize Related Statistics²	Annual Number and Year
Total population	291,800(mid 2005 estimate)
Languages	Spanish, Creole, Mayan dialects, English
Mortality rate from communicable diseases (per 100,000)	66.8 (2002)
Registered cases of malaria	1,549 (2005)
Population at risk for malaria (%)	50% (2005)
Registered cases of dengue (first case of DHF reported in 2005)	652 (2005)

Health Infrastructure Indicators³	Annual Rate and Year
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved drinking water source	91% (2002)
Proportion of population with access to sewage disposal services	47% (2002)
Physicians ratio (per 10,000)	10.2 (2000)
Professional nurses ratio (per 10,000)	12.3 (2000)
Number of outpatient care facilities (total)	18 (2004)
Hospital beds ratio (per 1,000)	1.3 (2004)

Neighboring countries: Mexico and Guatemala

Who to contact:
Pan American Health Organization
Mrs. Monica Zaccarelli PAHO/WHO Subregional Disaster Advisor for the Caribbean Bridgetown, Barbados Phone: +246-426-3860; 435 9263 Fax: +246-228 5402 zaccarem@paho.org	Dr. Beverley Barnett PAHO/WHO Representative Belize City, Belize Phone: +501-2-244-885; 2448-52; 224-5536; 223-3946 Fax: +501-2-223-0917 www.blz.paho.org e-mail: barnettb@paho.org
Belize Civil Defense Col. George Lovell National Emergency Coordinator National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) NEMO Headquarters, Belmopan, Belize, Central America Phone: +501- 8-222-054 Fax: +501- 8-222-861 Email: nemo@blt.net	Belize National Health Hon. Jose Coye Minister Of Health, Local Government, Transport And Communication CEO, Ms. Margaret Ventura P.O. Box 493; Belmopan City Government Headquarters, Belmopan Tel: 822-2325/26 (W) 822-2942 (F) E-mail: healthbz@btl.net

1.National Policy Development Committee. “Belize National Mitigation Policy.” National Emergency Management organization of Belize and CDERA. http://www.nemo.org.bz/publications/2003-12-03_HMP.pdf. Nov. 2003.
2 . Information from the PAHO online basic indicator database
3 . Information from the PAHO online basic indicator database

	The Pan American Health Organization Promoting Health in the Americas