Saint Lucia’s health system recorded notable progress and emerging challenges in 2025, as expanded universal health coverage, improved facilities, and strengthened surveillance helped reduce several communicable diseases, while chronic non-communicable illnesses continued to dominate mortality statistics.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sharon Belmar George, said the year reflected both advancement and warning signs for the nation’s health profile.
“In 2025, the health system expanded universal health coverage, improved health facilities, managed many health programmes, health conditions ranging from infectious diseases, chronic non-communicable diseases, international, regional, and local collaborations and medical missions,” she explained.
According to the Ministry of Health, life expectancy in Saint Lucia now stands at 70.2 years for men and 77.8 years for women. At the same time, fertility and birth rates continue to decline.
Dr Belmar George noted that “a total of 1,326 live births were recorded for 2025, representing a crude birth rate of 7.7 per thousand women of childbearing age.”
She added that “this is a 6.1 decrease from the previous year 2024,” while the total fertility rate per woman of childbearing age has dropped to 1.06, compared to 1.54 in 2016.
Communicable disease surveillance showed overall improvement, particularly in respiratory and vector-borne illnesses.
“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,” Dr Belmar George said, although she cautioned that “we continue to see new variants of COVID-19, influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus.”
Tuberculosis cases increased slightly, with three new cases reported in 2025 compared to one in 2024. Gastroenteritis cases, however, fell sharply.
“A total of 276 cases of gastroenteritis were registered by the Sentinel Surveillance System,” the Chief Medical Officer stated.
“This represents an 85 percent decrease in cases from the previous year, 2024.” She noted that 12 percent of cases involved children under five, with outbreaks occurring in March and June. “Twenty-four percent of the cases were from Soufriere, 21 percent from Castries, and 14 percent from the Vieux Fort region,” she said.
HIV diagnoses also declined slightly.
“In 2025, 26 new cases of HIV were diagnosed. This represents a 2.6 percent decrease from 2024,” Dr Belmar George reported, adding that 62 percent of the new cases were male. There are currently 1,003 persons living with HIV in Saint Lucia, of whom 58 percent are male.
Vector-borne diseases showed some of the most dramatic changes.
“The Ministry of Health noted a significant, that is a 91 percent decrease in dengue fever in 2025 as compared to 2024,” she said, noting that 432 cases were recorded in the previous year. Of those cases, “73 percent occurred in the southern districts of Vieux Fort, Micoud, and Dennery,” with women and those aged 15 to 49 most affected. One dengue-related death was recorded in 2025.
Six cases of leptospirosis were reported in 2025, representing a 63 percent decrease over the previous year, and no cases of malaria were recorded. However, leprosy cases increased markedly.
“Saint Lucia recorded 16 new cases of leprosy, which was eight times as many cases seen in the previous year, 2024,” Dr Belmar George said.
She explained that “the observed increase in cases was as a result of targeted active case finding carried out during skin camps aimed at detecting previously unidentified leprosy cases,” part of a national action plan launched in 2024.
Despite progress against several infectious diseases, the Chief Medical Officer warned that chronic non-communicable diseases remain the leading cause of death.
“Chronic non-communicable diseases continue to be a significant source of mortality in Saint Lucia, accounting for over 80 percent of all deaths,” she said, with cancers, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes remaining the top four causes for the past decade.
She also highlighted gender specific trends.
“Males are continuing to lose more of their potential benefit to society due to assault, land transport accidents and chronic lower respiratory diseases, which is COPD due to smoking,” while “females are losing more of their potential to society due to breast and cervical cancer in particular and perinatal conditions specific to newborns.”
Based on recent trends and behavioral risk factor data, the Ministry of Health is prioritizing prevention.
“Primary care preventative health strengthening remains a major focus for the Ministry of Health,” Dr Belmar George said, citing “low levels of health screening, increases in obesity, low fruit and vegetable intake, and limited physical activity among our population.”
She indicated that targeted interventions will be rolled out in 2026, with special focus on nutrition.
Operational challenges also affected health services during the year. Dr Belmar George noted that “health facility closures and diversions for care due to environmental air quality issues were reduced,” but significant maintenance issues persisted, particularly at the Vieux Fort Wellness Centre.
“Mold infestation was a major issue in several facilities, requiring significant resources for remediation at 14 wellness centers, including the Gros Islet Polyclinic, the Betty Wells Urban Polyclinic, and the Soufriere Hospital.”
Health officials say the 2025 data provide a clear roadmap for future policy, balancing gains in disease control with urgent action on chronic illness prevention and health system resilience.