SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
HEALING THE HEART OF THE MATTER A chain of islands straddling the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines hosts an active volcano and occasional hurricanes. Yet the biggest killers in the country are neither wind nor fire but the devil within – “non-communicable” diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease By Howard Hudson, OPEC Fund
S aint Vincent and the Grenadines has seen its fair share of natural disasters in recent years. In April 2021, the volcano known as “La Soufrière” erupted several times, forcing the evacuation of more than 15,000 residents from the main island of Saint Vincent. In the years prior to that, hurricanes had caused substantial damage, particularly to banana and coconut plantations on the west coast of the main island.
In the decade from 2009-2019, however, the country’s biggest killer was not force majeure but simple heart disease – with the number of deaths rising by over a third per 100,000 people, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study from the University of Washington, USA. At the same time death by diabetes soared by almost a quarter, while breast and prostate cancer combined claimed an extra 17 percent of the population.
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