Excerpt:

"Since all health care required cannot be obtained at any given level of the system, an effective referral mechanism is a key element in the delivery of care. As a result, the collaborative efforts between PAHO and the Ministry of Health which led to the production of this manual that details the policy, guidelines and protocols for a National Referral System proved to be an extremely useful one. The contents of this manual will serve as an essential guide to health planners, managers and practitioners and will constitute one of the planks on which the Ministry of Health can build its regulatory responsibilities for health care in Belize, in-so-far as they relate to referral practices."