Ageing, its relationship with chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and technology, was among the issues St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, called attention to on Monday, at the opening of the Thirty-Seventh Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government.
The Prime Minister, who entreated the Community to look at the issue of ageing, said that the Caribbean population was getting older and serious thought should be given to the matter. Citing statistics from his own country, which he said were similar elsewhere in CARICOM, Prime Minister Gonsalves drew attention to “a 30 percent increase in the over 60 population” in the censual period 2001 and 2002.
“In this same vein, the prime minister raised the question of “human level artificial intelligence which he said also had immense implications for the Region, hence the need for it to be addressed. By 2045, it is held that robots would be everywhere as computers are today; performing functions which we perform in a normal way, how is that to be addressed”, he asked.
The Prime Minister called on all responsible leaders in the Community, political leaders, scientists and other Community members to be concerned with these issues.
