Welcome Remarks by Governor, Dr. DeLisle Worrell at the 39th Sir Winston Scott Memorial Lecture

Members of the Scott family, distinguished Guests, friends and colleagues:

Welcome to our 2014 Scott lecture, a highlight of the Central Bank's calendar for the past 38 years. This lecture series, which has quite intentionally covered every aspect of human life and endeavour, tonight is delivered by an expert in one of Barbados' lifestyle diseases, diabetes. There is much that all Barbadians can celebrate in the statement I have just made.

We can celebrate, first of all, the vision of the founding Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Sir Courtney Blackman, who had the idea for these lectures. Sir Courtney understood that a small modern country like Barbados had to maintain a steadfast outward vision, and that weneeded always to be plugged into the latest currents of thought in every sphere of activity. Openness to the outside world is nothing new to us, of course. Our ancestors came from Africa and Europe mainly, to occupy an island that had been abandoned by the Ta?no, and we have always made our living through commerce with the world at large. A view to the world is the inheritance and destiny of progressive small economies. This lecture contributes to the commerce of ideas which helps to keep Barbados current and competitive.

We should celebrate, secondly, the life and work of Barbados' first Barbadian-born Governor-General, in whose memory the lecture is named. Sir Winston is one of Barbados' rich pantheon of heroes, alive and departed, ordinary Barbadians who employed whatever talent they were endowed with to achieve truly exceptional goals. His life remains part of the rich legacy of his generation, which continues to inspire us today.

Thirdly, we should celebrate the transformation of our society and economy over the past three generations from the Third World to the First World. Today our principal health preoccupations are lifestyle diseases like diabetes, a disease of affluence. Lifestyle diseases were way down on the list of health concerns in the 1950s in Barbados. At that time the diseases of poverty and destitution were rife: infant mortality, low birth weight, malnutrition and preventable deaths from common infections. The change in health focus is an unintended consequence of our success in modernizing our economy and transforming the quality of our lives.

We all know how serious a problem we have with diabetes in Barbados and the Caribbean, and we are quite determined to get the measure of this problem. The statistics continue to tell a story we find unacceptable, and we will keep after this health challenge until we attain performance comparable to our peers around the world, and then we will go further. Knowledge has always been the foundation of our success, and the widespread interest in tonight's lecture speaks to our quest for a better understanding of diabetes, the better to define strategies for removing it's scourge on our lives and our society.

November 24, 2014