The Caribbean Community mourns the passing of one of its pioneer sons, Sir Kenneth Standard, Professor Emeritus (Community Health) of the University of the West Indies (UWI) at the age of 82.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Rex Nettleford, remembering Sir Kenneth, recalled that in 1948 this young Barbadian, already a headmaster in his native island journeyed to Mona, Jamaica to become one of the now famous “first 33” students to walk through the doors of the new the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) Faculty of Medicine.
One thing that was always known and respected about the young Kenneth, and which continued throughout his career, was the enormous importance he placed on community health and the area of preventive medicine. And the country that sent him to Mona was to receive benefit of his attendance when he retuned on graduation to work as a public health officer in Barbados. This young man's commitment and determination was however such that he would become the first of the “first 33” to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine. His thesis was on the importance of nutrition in the children of rural St. Elizabeth in Jamaica.
But it was in Jamaica where Sir Kenneth would also do sterling career service, establishing a clinic on the Mona Campus which serviced the university's environs. In fact as this pilot project spread throughout the length and breadth of Jamaica, it is reported that its successes caught the attention of major international medical universities, which actually sent groups of students to observe and learn from the project.
There is no doubt that Sir Kenneth ranked among the greatest minds and contributors to the foundation building of a healthy and prosperous Caribbean Region. His work was well recognised at home and abroad. In 1982, Her Majesty the Queen, on the recommendation of the Government of Barbados, conferred on him the Order of Knight Bachelor in recognition of invaluable work in public health. Then, in celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2002, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) named him one of eleven “Public Health Heroes of the Americas”.
On behalf of the Caribbean Community I extend deepest condolences to his widow, Evelyn Lady Standard and his other relatives and friends who are left to mourn his passing. The Community is grateful for his having been born to us, and for the gift of his contribution that will live on in the health and strength of the Region's people.
