This week the Ministry of Health presented a 2025 Health Summary Update, which painted a picture of the island’s current health care system, how the country managed health conditions as well as risk factors for men and women, among other things.
According to Dr Sharon Belmar George Saint Lucia’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), the health data analysed provides a summary of the health status in-country.
“In Saint Lucia, the life expectancy for men as of 2025 is 70.2 and women 77.8. We continue to note reductions in the birth rate — a total of 1,326 live births were recorded for 2025 representing a crude birth rate of 7.7 per 1000 women of child bearing age,” Belmar George stated.
This she said is a 6.1 per cent decrease from the previous year, 2024.
The CMO went on to indicate that respiratory viruses continued to circulate, especially in the last quarter of the year.
“We note a continued reduction in COVID-19 cases from 3.4 per 10 000 in 2024 to 2.0 per 10 000 in 2025. However, we continue to see new variants of COVID-19, Influenza A, Influenza B and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), alongside three new cases of Tuberculosis being reported in 2025 in comparison to 1 new case in 2024,” she said.
The 2025 review revealed that a total of 276 cases of gastroenteritis were registered by the sentinel surveillance system, representing an 85 per cent decrease in cases from the previous year.
“Twelve percent of those cases were children less than five years of age,” Belmar George reported. Outbreaks were noted at two periods, during March and June with 24 per cent of the cases coming from Soufrière, 21 per cent from Castries and 14 per cent from Vieux Fort.
Health officials confirm that there was a 2.6 per cent decrease in new HIV cases from 2024, with 26 new cases diagnosed last year. There are currently 1 003 persons living with HIV in Saint Lucia of which 58 per cent are male.
The Ministry of Health noted a 91 per cent decrease in Dengue Fever in 2025 as compared to 2024, where 432 cases were recorded. Seventy-three per cent of the cases occurred in the southern districts of Vieux Fort, Micoud, and Dennery. The island recorded one Dengue Fever related death in 2025.
“A total of six cases of leptospirosis were reported in 2025 of which 83 per cent were male, while 16 new cases of Leprosy, which was eight times as many cases seen in the previous year 2024, were recorded,” the CMO said.
Belmar George also highlighted the increasing impact that violence and injuries due to crime and motor vehicular
accidents were having on the hospital system and Blood Bank resources. This she said remains of serious concern to the health sector.
Also of concern were Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, which continue to be a significant source of mortality in Saint Lucia accounting for over 80 per cent of all deaths, with cancers, cerebrovascular disease/stroke, heart disease and Diabetes Mellitus dominating as the top four causes of death respectively for the last ten years.
“Despite this, males are continuing to lose more of their potential benefit to society due to assault, land transport accidents, and Chronic lower Respiratory Disease (specifically COPD) due to smoking.
“On the other hand, females are losing more of their potential to society due to Cancer (Breast and Cervical in particular) and Perinatal Conditions (specific to newborns),” she added.
According to the CMO, guided by the trends noted over the last five years and the data from the Behavior Risk
Factor Survey carried out in 2019, Primary care/preventative health strengthening remains a major focus for the Ministry of Health.
“We continue to note low levels of health screening, increases in obesity, low fruit and vegetable intake and limited physical activity among our population. These factors will be addressed with targeted programs
and interventions in 2026 with special focus on the Nutrition mandate of the Ministry of Health,” she said.
She also addressed the numerous health facility closures and diversions for care in 2025 due to infrastructural, maintenance and issues with mold. However, health facility closures and diversions for care due to environmental air quality issues were reduced last year the CMO said, adding that the Ministry aims to
enhance service delivery, improve the working environment for staff and ensure improved access to healthcare for the population.
Among the gains made by the health sector was the provision of Antenatal Care, Cervical Cancer Screening, Prostate Cancer Screening and Snake bite management in Primary Healthcare at no cost to the patient under the Universal Health Care initiative. Other milestones included the opening of the first phase of the Dr. Betty Wells Urban Polyclinic located at the Dr. Winston C. Parris
Medical Complex (formerly Victoria Hospital) and the handing over of the St. Jude site, to the Ministry of Health in November 2025.
“The Ministry of Health is working with all stakeholders and a broad technical team to commission the Dialysis Unit and other clinical units to the St. Jude Hospital site,” Sharon Belmar George said.
As per government policy, the priorities for 2026 include strengthening Primary care/Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Program to reduce the NCD burden with a
focus on nutrition and promotion of wellness and the expansion of Universal Health Coverage,” the CMO outlined.
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