Countries & territories / Lesser Antilles
A functioning national research ethics committee — rare in the Eastern Caribbean.
Population 99,924 (2025) · Part of the PCRA Group's UK, US and Caribbean network.
- Capital
- Kingstown
- Main languages
- English; Vincentian Creole widely spoken
- Currency
- East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
- Population
- 99,924 (2025)
- 23.6%
- Probability of dying 30–70 from a major NCD — among the network's highest, and rising
- 81.6%
- Of all deaths are from non-communicable disease
- 215
- Beds at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, serving a population of roughly 100,000
Why Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has something most of its neighbours do not: a named, contactable, operating national research ethics committee with a published process and a six-week submission window. In a subregion where the usual answer is "no committee identified", that is worth more than it sounds.
The disease burden
Premature NCD mortality rose from 22.7% in 2019 to 23.6% in 2021 — one of only three network territories where the figure worsened over that period, and among the highest in the network. The population has fallen 11.4% since 2000 and the over-65 share has more than doubled since 1980. That is an ageing, shrinking population with worsening chronic disease outcomes: a difficult public health picture, and a recruitable one.
Sites and infrastructure
- Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, Kingstown — 215 beds, around 600 staff, with A&E, theatres, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and gastroenterology
- Modern Medical and Diagnostic Centre — an EC$42m affiliated facility providing haemodialysis and oncology
- A new Acute Referral Hospital is under construction at Arnos Vale
- Trinity Medical Sciences University, Kingstown — the only CAAM-HP accredited school on the island (accreditation with conditions, 2024–2026)
Research heritage
None found. No documented cohort, trial or research institution.
Regulatory & ethics
- Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment Research Ethics Committee — the oversight body for ethical review of health research, with scientific and lay members, based at the Ministerial Building, Halifax Street, Kingstown
- Applications required at least six weeks before study start; findings must be reported to the Ministry's Health Information Unit
- Medicines regulation via the Pharmacy Council and the Drug Inspector within the Ministry
The honest position: The ethics committee is administrative rather than statutory. PAHO records that no legal provision requires clinical trial authorisation, and no law compels ethics-committee agreement — so the committee operates without statutory backing. In practice it is the functioning gate and we route through it; but a sponsor should understand that the approval carries administrative rather than legal force, and plan its own governance accordingly.
Data quality: Moderate — WHO estimates complete with mid-width intervals and government sources verifiable, but no research track record.
How this site fits the network
Network capacity — adds diversity and marginal enrolment to multi-country studies. Not a standalone proposition.
Our Saint Vincent and the Grenadines operation is contracted, trained and monitored under the same quality system as our UK and US sites. One master service agreement covers all three regions, one budget negotiation, one set of payment terms. Sites in this network can absorb enrolment from under-recruiting UK or US centres without a new vendor qualification cycle.
Key indicators
| Indicator | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Adult obesity (BMI ≥30) | 33.6% | Crude, adults 18+, 2022 |
| Adults overweight or obese | 62.5% | Crude, adults 18+, 2022 |
| Adult diabetes | 16.6% | Crude, adults 18+, 2022 |
| Hypertension | 39.3% | Age-standardised, 30–79, 2019 |
| — of whom controlled | 20.5% | Age-standardised, 2019 |
| NCDs as share of all deaths | 81.6% | 2019 |
| Premature NCD mortality (30–70) | 23.6% | Probability of death, 2021 |
All figures are WHO Global Health Observatory modelled estimates on one consistent basis: obesity, overweight and diabetes are crude prevalence, adults 18+, 2022; hypertension and control are age-standardised, adults 30–79, 2019; NCD share of deaths is 2019; premature NCD mortality is the probability of dying between 30 and 70 from a major NCD, 2021. Estimates carry confidence intervals — we quote intervals on request and always where they are wide.
Member sites in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Our anonymised directory shows the network's research-ready sites — sponsors can register for full site details, including which countries and territories each site serves.
Browse member sitesPlanning a study in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
Tell us what your protocol needs and we'll give you an honest feasibility read — and if you run a hospital, clinic, pharmacy, lab or research unit in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, we'd love to hear from you too.