<strong>Women</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Men</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Community</strong>Table 3.12 Lead<strong>in</strong>g causes of mortality among women aged 25-44 years, numberof deaths, percentage <strong>and</strong> female/male ratio, 1995Source: Mortality data reported toCAREC by Member States.Note: Data are comb<strong>in</strong>ed for Anguilla,Antigua <strong>and</strong> Barbuda, The Bahamas,Barbados, Belize, Dom<strong>in</strong>ica, St. Kitts<strong>and</strong> Nevis, Sa<strong>in</strong>t. Lucia, St.V<strong>in</strong>cent<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grenad<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong> Tr<strong>in</strong>idad <strong>and</strong>Tobago.. . Not applicableRankLead<strong>in</strong>g causes of deathNumberof deathsPer cent oftotal femaledeathsRatio offemale tomale deaths1 AIDS 131 18 0.42 Cancer of <strong>the</strong> breast 43 6 . .3 Diabetes mellitus 36 5 1.14 Cancer of <strong>the</strong> cervix 35 5 . .5 Cerebrovascular disease 31 4 0.9All deaths among women 25-44 years 714 39 0.5Table 3.13 Lead<strong>in</strong>g causes of mortality among men aged 25-44 years, number ofdeaths, percentage <strong>and</strong> female/male ratio, 1995Source: Mortality data reported toCAREC by Member States.Note: Data are comb<strong>in</strong>ed for Anguilla,Antigua <strong>and</strong> Barbuda, The Bahamas,Barbados, Belize, Dom<strong>in</strong>ica, St. Kitts<strong>and</strong> Nevis, Sa<strong>in</strong>t Lucia, St.V<strong>in</strong>cent<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grenad<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong> Tr<strong>in</strong>idad<strong>and</strong> Tobago.RankLead<strong>in</strong>g causes of deathNumberof deathsPer centof maledeathsRatio offemale tomale deaths1 AIDS 315 24 0.42 Homicide 112 8 0.23 Suicide 99 7 0.24 Motor vehicle accidents 82 6 0.25 Ischaemic heart disease 45 3 0.4All deaths among men 25-44 years 1,330 49 0.5Among males, <strong>the</strong> next three lead<strong>in</strong>g causes—homicide, suicide <strong>and</strong> motor vehicle accidents,all external causes,—jo<strong>in</strong>tly accounted for 22 per cent of deaths <strong>in</strong> this age group; which isalmost as many deaths are due to AIDS. Among women, <strong>the</strong> lead<strong>in</strong>g causes after AIDS <strong>and</strong>cancer of <strong>the</strong> breast were diabetes, cancer of <strong>the</strong> cervix <strong>and</strong> cerebrovascular disease. Whilediabetes mellitus appeared among <strong>the</strong> five lead<strong>in</strong>g causes of death of women <strong>in</strong> this age group,it did not appear <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> top five causes for men.The prevalence of higher morbidity <strong>and</strong> mortality due to non-communicable chronic diseases,such as diabetes <strong>and</strong> cancer of <strong>the</strong> breast among women, require that preventive measures beput <strong>in</strong> place to reduce <strong>the</strong> growth of <strong>the</strong>se diseases. Similar attention should be paid toischaemic heart disease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> case of men.HIV/AIDS More Prevalent among <strong>Men</strong> than <strong>Women</strong>The CARICOM Region currently has <strong>the</strong> highest level of prevalence of HIV/AIDS, secondonly to sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemic is largely heterosexual <strong>in</strong> nature <strong>in</strong> this part of <strong>the</strong>globe (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2000). In <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> as a whole, it isestimated that <strong>the</strong>re are approximately 360,000 adults <strong>and</strong> children liv<strong>in</strong>g with AIDS as ofDecember 1999. Among CARICOM countries, this figure was <strong>in</strong> excess of 47, 000 as of <strong>the</strong>end of 1999 (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2000).The number of cumulative cases of AIDS for <strong>the</strong> period 1982-2000, ranges from more than5,000 cases <strong>in</strong> Jamaica to three cases <strong>in</strong> Montserrat. Tr<strong>in</strong>idad <strong>and</strong> Tobago <strong>and</strong> The Bahamasalso display a significant number of cases of over 3,800. The cumulative number of cases shows40
Chapter 3: HEALTHthat AIDS is more prevalent among men than women. In most countries, <strong>the</strong>re are two or moretimes as many cases among men as among women: <strong>in</strong> Tr<strong>in</strong>idad <strong>and</strong> Tobago, St. V<strong>in</strong>cent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>Grenad<strong>in</strong>es, Belize, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Guyana <strong>and</strong> Sa<strong>in</strong>t Lucia, <strong>the</strong>re are five to sevenwomen to every ten men with AIDS, cumulatively, between 1982 <strong>and</strong> 2000 (table 3.14).Table 3.14 Cumulative AIDS cases by sex, number, percentage distribution<strong>and</strong> women/men ratio, 1982-2000Cumulative AIDS cases 1982- December 2000<strong>Women</strong>CountryNumberPercentageDistribution NumberPercentageDistribution<strong>Women</strong> to100 menJamaica 1,977 33 3,125 29 63The Bahamas 1,508 26 2,324 22 65Tr<strong>in</strong>idad <strong>and</strong> Tobago 1,218 21 2,631 25 46Guyana 529 9 946 9 56Barbados 308 5 881 8 35St.V<strong>in</strong>cent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grenad<strong>in</strong>es 92 2 173 2 53Sur<strong>in</strong>ame 64 1 151 1 42Sa<strong>in</strong>t Lucia 54 1 79 1 68Dom<strong>in</strong>ica 38 1 97 1 39Grenada 35 1 87 1 40Belize 28 0 58 1 48Antigua <strong>and</strong> Barbuda 28 0 85 1 33St.Kitts <strong>and</strong> Nevis 24 0 44 0 55Montserrat 2 0 1 0 200TOTAL 5,905 100 10,682 100 55<strong>Men</strong>Source: AIDS data submittedto CAREC by Member States.Chart 3.3 AIDS more prevalent among men than womenCumulative AIDS cases, ratio of women to 100 men, 1982–2000St.Kitts <strong>and</strong> NevisAntigua <strong>and</strong> BarbudaBelizeGrenadaDom<strong>in</strong>icaSa<strong>in</strong>t LuciaSur<strong>in</strong>ameSt.V<strong>in</strong>cent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grenad<strong>in</strong>esBarbadosGuyanaTr<strong>in</strong>idad <strong>and</strong> TobagoThe BahamasJamaica0 20 40 60 80Ratio of women to 100 menSource: Based on table 3.14.Note: Data for Montserrat not <strong>in</strong>cludeddue to small number of cases.41
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