Grenada

Grenada is a small island at the southern end of the Grenadines, a short archipelago at the boundary of the Caribbean Ocean and the North Atlantic. At just 344 square kilometers, it is one of the smallest independent nations in the western hemisphere. Few Americans had heard of Grenada before October 1983, when hundreds of U.S. troops invaded the island to oppose Cuban troops building an airstrip. Operation Urgent Fury lasted just a few days and took the lives of 19 U.S. servicemen and 100 Cubans and Grenadians. The Cubans retreated, and the Grenadians welcomed the United States as liberators.

Since the 1980s, Grenada has been a peaceful place, with an economy based on tourism, offshore finance, agricultural exports, and manufacturing. The total population is 89,700, and the growth rate is only 0.26 percent. Grenada has a birth rate of 22.08 per 1,000 people and a death rate of 6.88 per 1,000 people, but its migration rate is minus 12.59 per 1,000.

Sixty-two percent of Grenadians work in the service industry, 24 percent in agriculture, and 14 percent in industry. Unemployment is 12.5 percent. Per capita income is $4,060, although a third of Grenadians live below the poverty level. Grenada lies at the edge of the Atlantic hurricane belt, with little to protect it from tropical systems. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan swept the island, taking no lives but destroying or damaging 90 percent of the residential housing. The economy is still recovering from the blow.

Life expectancy at birth is 63.06 years for males and 66.68 years for females; healthy life expectancy is 58.4 years for men and 60 years for women. Infant mortality is just 14 deaths per 1,000 live births, and almost every child survives childhood. Immunization for the major diseases of childhood is almost universal. [Page 753]Between 1990 and 2004, there was only one reported death in childbirth. All Grenadian women have a trained attendant monitoring their deliveries, and 98 percent receive prenatal care.

The local diet is based on cereal grains, yams, cassava and other root vegetables, shrimp, and fish. Nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves, citrus fruits, and bananas are major export crops. The government has launched a campaign to “grow what you eat and eat what you grow” to encourage both a healthy diet and a reduced dependence on expensive, imported foods.

With the exception of a few isolated cases of dengue fever, Grenadians are not plagued with major infectious diseases. Between 95 to 97 percent of citizens use safe drinking water and sanitary facilities. The HIV/AIDS rate is low, with 139 cases diagnosed between 1996 and 2001. Workplace accidents are common. Cardiovascular disease and cancers are the most common causes of death.

The government allocates $212 per capita for medical care. There is one general hospital in St. George's and two rural hospitals in the countryside. The Ministry of Health plans to establish several local “polyclinics” to better serve people for basic health needs.

For the past 30 years, doctors have been a chief export for Grenada, thanks to the St. George's University (SGU) School of Medicine. Since its establishment in 1977, SGU has used its low tuition and tropical locale to attract medical students from around the globe. Today, there are 5,000 SGU-trained physicians practicing in 35 countries and all 50 U.S. states.

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