Our stratospheric murder rate is sickening Vincentians

Life is merely a fleeting privilege, that privilege can be taken from any of us, without any warning, at any time. I implore all stakeholders mentioned below, to assiduously work together to ensure that here in SVG murder is no longer an inordinate reason for the removal of the privilege of life. We must bring to an urgent halt the avoidable carnage of our young men in their prime.

The over boiling cauldron of violent criminal activity not only threatens SVG’s socioeconomic stability, but it is literally and metaphorically sickening our people.

On December 17, I read on ANN News that a senior member of our constabulary stated: “people can feel safe to walk the street(s) (even though there have been 53 murders for 2024).”

Juxtapose that against iWitness News reporting that on December 10, “The unknown gunman who tried to kill another man around noon in Kingstown on Tuesday fired about 10 shots (in the street) at his victim.” This disturbing incident reported by iWitness News should bring into question the safety of our streets. Burying our heads in the sand will inevitably lead to our suffocation.

For many, nighttime excursions have been self-restricted out of an abundance of caution, because there is no desire to be a collateral victim of a murder. This has undoubtedly resulted in reduced revenue for nocturnal businesses and ancillary entities.

Over the last year, I’ve had patients, disproportionately female, report finding it very difficult to get a good night’s rest. They wake every few minutes, checking to see if someone is trying to violate their living space. Additionally, they get up to examine the source of any noise and the reason for the neighbourhood dogs barking.

Many now sleep with their windows tightly shut. As a result, their living quarters become very hot and filled with stale air, further compromising sleep and the health for everyone within.

Stress, insomnia, an overheated environment, and poor ventilation constitute a recipe for suboptimal biomedical, psychological, and social health.

SVG’s homicide/ murder rate per 100,000 people is among the highest in the world. This was inconceivable a mere two decades ago. This ignominy should be of tremendous concern to the following stakeholders:

• All permanent and transient residents of SVG
• Vincentians in the Diaspora
• Vincentian politicians
• SVG’s law enforcement and border security officials
• Locally, regionally, and extra-regionally owned businesses operating in SVG
• All invested in any aspect of SVG’s tourism
• All local religious denominations
• SVG’s civil society
• Our criminal justice system
• Poverty alleviation entities
• Those responsible for meaningfully transforming our education system
• Healthcare personnel
• Mental health providers
• Those seeking reparations from our former colonizers
• Other.

Evidence-based studies show that the omnipresence of violent crime within any society can lead to; including those who are not directly impacted:

• Insomnia
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Stress/ Depression/ Anxiety
• Weakened immune system
• Asthma in the susceptible
• Gastrointestinal complications
• Seizures in those predisposed
• Headaches
• Back/ neck pain
• Substance abuse
• Obesity
• Accidents
• Accelerated biological ageing
• Premature death
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Children and adolescents worrying about crime often experience:

• Poor sleep
• Nightmares
• Daytime drowsiness
• Poor school performance
• Aggressive and delinquent behaviour
• Anxiety/ depression
• Substance abuse.

Many grow up to become lawless adults.

Please permit me to analogize our economy to the human body.

Suppose each organ system in our body represented a different area in our economy. Let us assume that the liver represents national security. While the liver is an essential organ, it is not as revered as the heart or brain. Similarly, while national security is vital to a country’s economy, it does not command the same esteem as tourism, agriculture, and other areas. However, once the functioning of the liver or national security plummets below a fundamental threshold, in humans death will soon ensue, and for a country, socioeconomic turmoil is inevitable – look no further than anarchical Haiti.

The government must lead the charge in nurturing our country’s liver (i.e. national security) back to good health. SVG is currently in the ICU, and our prognosis is guarded.

As I compose this article, there have been 53 homicides for 2024, a number that is disturbingly proximate to 2023’s inglorious record of 55 murders. This is untenable, unsustainable, and unacceptable to all Vincentians who genuinely love their dear country and place the cherished lives of fellow Vincentians ahead of any other consideration.

Vincentians must have zero tolerance for this heartbreaking and incendiary state of affairs.

Wishing you, my people, an enjoyable, blessed, and safe Christmas and a New Year filled with exceptional health, great prosperity, tremendous enlightenment, renewed hope, uplifting change, wonderful news, nuff love, and the richest of blessings.

Family Care Clinic opens Boxing Day (December 26) from 9:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m.

l Author: Dr. C. Malcolm Grant – Family Physician, c/o Family Care Clinic, Arnos Vale. Former tutor, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. For appointments: clinic@familycaresvg.com, 1(784)570-9300, (Office), 1(784)455-0376 (WhatsApp)

Disclaimer: The information provided in the above article is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you are seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. Dr. C. Malcolm

Grant, Family Care Clinic or The Searchlight Newspaper or their associates, respectively, are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information provided above.