Heart attack is the leading cause of death in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Health St. Clair “Jimmy” Prince has told Parliament.
“… but that has been the case all along,” he said during an exchange on Thursday with opposition lawmaker St. Clair Leacock, who had asked about “an increased number of deaths in the state since Covid-19”.
Leacock said that a casual observation has led many to conclude that there is an increased number of deaths in SVG since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He asked Prince to tell Parliament the number of deaths recorded in the country in each of the years 2021, 2022, 2023 and as at Sept. 30, 2024.
Leacock also wanted to know whether any study or determination had been made “between COVID-19 and the vaccination exercise to establish a correlation” and what was the leading cause of death in the country from 2021 to September 2024.
Responding to the question, Prince said he suspected that the discourse on COVID-19 would continue for a while “because it has had a very considerable impact on our society and our psyche”.
He said the number of deaths for each of the years 2021 to 2023 and up to September 2024 were 1,082, 1,059; 1,121, and 852.
The health minister noted that Leacock spoke about the “exercise that followed” and the existence of a study that establishes a correlation between COVID-19 and the vaccination exercise.
He, however, pointed out that Leacock did not state whether it is a correlation between COVID-19 disease and vaccination, or COVID-19 deaths and vaccination, or any other COVID-19 variable and the vaccination exercise.
“However, reviews of the data have shown that the majority of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 and or died from COVID-19, between 2021, and 2022 were unvaccinated. “
Prince said studies had been done on “the excess deaths noted after the declaration of the discontinuation of the public health emergency of international concern in May of 2023”.
Those studies have demonstrated that the excess deaths are related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases and COVID-19 infections.
The health minister said his government has not conducted its own studies on the matter.
He, however, said that the Swiss Re Institute published an article on Sept. 16 which said that “based on current medical trends and expected advancements, we conclude that COVID-19 is still driving excess mortality, both directly and indirectly.
“In the long term, lifestyle factors that contribute to your metabolic health and lead to obesity and diabetes may become another compounding factor in population excess mortality. Insurers may wish to continue to monitor excess mortality and its underlying drivers in the general population closely, as well as the differences between general and insured populations.”
Prince told Parliament that in SVG, ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of death from 2021 to September 2024.
“In 2021, leading cause of death, ischemic heart disease — 171 deaths; 2022 leading cause of death, ischemic heart disease — 134 deaths; 2023, ischemic heart disease — 159 deaths, and up to Sept. 30, 2024, the same ischemic heart disease, 117 deaths.”
Leacock then asked the health minister to say in layman’s language “what these heart disease deaths mean”.
“Simply, heart attack,” Prince said.
“Heart attack?” Leacock said.
“Yes,” Prince responded.
“Ah, OK. That’s enough. Lot of people dying of heart attack,” Leacock said.
“Yes, but that has been the case all along. We have most of the deaths recorded –” Prince was saying when Leacock interjected, “I didn’t ask you that. You answered what I asked.
“You mean I mustn’t answer,” Prince was saying when Leacock repeated that the health minister had answered what he had asked.
“This is the usual battle of the St. Clair, that we don’t get involved with,” House Speaker Rochelle Forde said, referring to the two lawmakers’ first names.
Heart.org says ischemic heart disease is heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries.
When arteries are narrowed, less blood and oxygen reach the heart muscle. This is also called coronary artery disease and coronary heart disease. This can lead to heart attack.
Reinstate the public service workers you wrongfully fired,apologize and compensate them for their wrongful dismissal. Don’t leave it up to the NDP to right a dreadful and inhumane wrong that took place under your watch. Your vaccine mandate is out dated and is tantamount to the law that legalized slavery. Do the right thing.
We know it’s gonna hurt your ego being a narcissist ,but,for once,do the right thing and give the poorly paid civil servants who you wrongfully fired,their jobs back. Stop playing politics with people’s lives.
God help us
Sorry Minister Prince, you fell for the trap. I feel your answer should have included the number for the three years before 2021 as well.
Simply put, alyo government crucified and continues to crucify vincentians, all for selfish reasons wickedness is the order of the day when it comes to the ulp!
I fell something fishy here.
I said I smell something fishy here.
toddlers dat never grew up R very dangerous.
Justice delayed is justice denied. This is the opportune time for workers wronglully dismussed to be reinstated in their jobs with full compensation.
To be honest, instances of death by heart attacks have skyrocketed around the globe, not just St. Vincent. I lost two friends, who were in robust health to heart attacks. One was in his early 40’s and died soon after returning from watching a hockey game with his daughter, the other just barely 50 died in October from a massive heart attack in his sleep. Neither of them had any medical history of any ailments. Those are just two of the many I know and most of them are younger than I am.