Road to RevCon4: A Public Health Crisis—Small Arms Trafficking and Violence in the Caribbean

Small arms trafficking and violence in the Caribbean have turned into a public health crisis in the Caribbean. The heads of government from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) declared violence and crime a public health issue in April 2023. The proliferation of small arms in the Caribbean fuels homicide rates, which are already among the highest in the world. Public hospitals are receiving more people with gunshot wounds and extending expensive care on the survivors. Customs and law enforcement agents do not have enough resources to seize all shipments of illicit small arms and ammunition, and offenders sometimes hop from one island to another. The Caribbean, which is home to multiple islands located between North, Central and South America, has witnessed the cross-border nature of illicit arms trafficking and thus the need for regional cooperation as well as multi-sectoral approaches.

Director Mark Downes sits down with Dr Joy St John, the executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the former Assistant Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), to discuss small arms trafficking and violence in the Caribbean as a public health crisis, and how this all ties into PoA discussions on the linkages between small arms trafficking and development.

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