 I want first of all to thank the members of the press for attending this press briefing, which comes at the conclusion of the 65th meeting of the OECS authority, the meeting of the heads of government of the OECS. We have here at the press briefing the immediate past chairman of the OECS authority, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Alan Chastonay. We have the Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Gitson-Yves, Prime Minister Timothy Harris, and the Director General of the OECS, Dr. Ducos Jules. My name is Ralph Gonzales of St. Vincent and I am the current chair of the OECS. At the meeting, all full members of the OECS were represented, including Montserrat, and we had an associate member in the President of the Martinican Council. He was there at the meeting also. A special guest for this authority meeting, as you are aware, is the distinguished Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Motley. You heard her at the opening, but we had a very productive caucus last evening, where the Director General presented a wide range of areas of cooperation. It was agreed upon that the Prime Minister of Barbados, she agreed and we concurred in this agreement that she would immediately examine the question of ease of travel for OECS Nationals passing through Barbados, for example, to use the picture ID, which we can use throughout OECS territories to travel, that you are passing through Barbados, you can use that also while you are transiting. Then the question of making the transiting more accommodating, and there are a number of practical suggestions in that regard, cooperation on the matter regarding to Sargassum, and the range of other matters which we have put down for discussion, practical matters of cooperation, touching on deepening integration between Barbados and the OECS countries. A very important outcome in that discussion was that a special meeting would be held of the heads of government of the OECS and Barbados on Liat. With the aim of understanding better where we are with Liat, you know, there is an analysis which is ongoing, there are consultants on the project, and we'll have the consultants there and the Caribbean Development Bank, which is very much involved in this exercise, and the management of Liat. And we are hoping that out of that discussion would emerge a new shareholders agreement, hopefully with other members of the OECS, other than Antigone, Barbuda, Dominic, and St. Vincent, and Renegades. Others can join with us in Barbados, and then you share the agreement and strengthen the way forward for Liat. So that's a very important conclusion which you also are right about. The meeting itself, we had a very thorough work program, which included a caucus this morning and full plenary discussions this afternoon. In the caucus this morning, we addressed the matter of the appointment of an ambassador to Brussels, as you are aware at the moment. The three saints plus Dominica are the countries which are represented through our Brussels mission, and there's the occasion for the appointment of someone, and we are very near in the end of that process. And then the government of Antigone, Barbuda, has agreed to become part of that arrangement. So the only country which would be standing alone, so to speak, in Brussels would be the government of Grenada. Historically, since the days of the People's Revolutionary Government, they have had a representative in Brussels, and we understand that historical phenomenon. So this is strengthening the question of representation overseas. It was also agreed that we would make and organize the march towards representation in Africa. We don't have to spell out the origin, the importance of this. It's long overdue. And the idea is that we would have an ambassador from each of the countries in the OECS, where we have missions in the United Kingdom, that we'd have non-permanent, non-resident ambassadors to several countries in Africa. One, for instance, the Ethiopia and the African Union, which is headquarters in Addis Ababa. One for Nigeria. One for the Southern, for South Africa. One for Egypt, Algeria. And also, we are working with the government of the Kingdom of Morocco to establish a permanent, a resident mission for the OECS countries in Morocco, as you know. We have been doing a lot of work with this North African country, which is, would Arab and African. And we have selected these countries very carefully to represent the broadest range of interests in Africa. We had a discussion, a very interesting discussion on the implications for some recent changes in the United States of America's foreign policy, the implications for OECS economic union. We got an update on the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority, a very detailed discussion, and the ways in which we can strengthen this in preparation for the audit, which is going to take place of ECA in February next year by the International Civil Aviation Organization. But that audit will involve security issues that's dealt with otherwise. There was a presentation by the government of saying it's on Nevis on security. And among other things, the paper which was presented, we are going to circulate this to Barbados, which is the other member country of the regional security system, and the meeting which would take place in another few weeks' time that would get a central place for discussion and the RSS. We got a presentation from the Caribbean Court of Justice of the APEX, APEX system. And unfortunately, we were not able to have a discussion on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court budget. We are hoping to do that in the next couple of weeks because the Honorable Chief Justice was unavoidably absent because she had a prior engagement, an important matter which she had to deal with, I had been advised in Canada, and we are accommodating her at a very special occasion, sometime over the next two or three weeks, and we are working on this specific date. Then we adopted the OECS work program and budget for the year. As you are aware, or to be aware that the OECS commission, each country has commissioners and the Secretary General, the Director General is at the core of the commission. And through the budget committee, we have had the work plan, the work program approved, the budget, and it's a matter well recommended really, and it had to come to us for final approval, which we did. Very important discussion on deepening the integration movement in terms of the economic union, and in that regard, there was a discussion, it started at the opening on issues in Karakum. We know that the Golden Commission in Jamaica had presented a report, I myself had appeared before that commission, and after the commission had presented this report, you're also aware that I presented a detailed paper on the question which paper was circulated, and which no doubt would form part of the wider discussion which would take place at the Karakum Heads of Government in July in Montego Bay. We looked at the issue as to how can we have carved out within the revised Treaty of Chagoramos a special place for the OECS territory so that we can move, recognize that we are moving at a faster pace in the integration process. The Dr. Antwine reported also on the Article 164 of the revised Treaty of Chagoramos where the certain protections offered to certain commodities for the OECS, and in Guyana at the Council for Trade and Economic Development, there was a decision for a continuation of the Article 164 protections for another 10 years subject to the objection from Haiti, which I don't see a problem with, and Montserrat, these are legal requisites, and we want to commend all those who have been involved in this particular exercise because this is an important bread and butter question for our flower, or bear, or animal feed, and a host of other commodities which we export. And then Commissioner Murdoch gave us a very good summary, and we took a lot of these decisions in relation to the free circulation of goods within our Economic Union. Then the OECS had taken a decision for the re-establishment of the Diplomatic Mission in Canada, and we got an update on that as how we are proceeding. Similarly for the regularization of the status of the Eastern Caribbean Liaison Service, which relates to the farm working program and the Government of St. Lucia is assisting very much in that regard, and I want to thank Alan. There was a report on the accession of St. Martin to the OECS, you know they had a terrible, we were having a discussion, it was on stream for associate membership, but then they have their hurricane and all the rest. So before we even finalize all that with them, we will accord them observer status, they can come see how we are proceeding, and trying to strengthen our links with the non-independent countries, as indeed we have done with Martinique and of course Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, and in that light we got an update too on the accession of Guadeloupe, and that is proceeding in a pace. The Chief Executive Officer of Liat came and presented to us the Carb Sky Initiative, the coordination of routes between three airlines, Liat, Winair, and Antilles, they have between them 25 aircraft, visit 30 odd countries, and we just trying to streamline our air transport system to make things better for all of us who are traveling, you know the difficulties in traveling in the region. We received reports from the Council of Ministers relating to agriculture, environment, education, health, foreign affairs, and there's a declaration on the support for resilience in the OECS, and a short while ago I signed the terms of reference for the audit committee, a very important pillar in the organizational apparatus of the OECS. I would say that that is a broad summary, I don't really want to take up a lot of time in doing more than what I've done in this regard, it's a very successful meeting, our next meeting is going to be on the 25th and 26th of October, in Zindan, Zindan, and Grenadines, which should be on the eve of our independence anniversary on the 27th, and I'm sure they would love to stay overnight and be with us at the parade ground on the 27th, and we all show a solidarity to one another, and I believe that would be a privilege to us coming across in February to be with Alan for St. Lucia's 40th anniversary, so it's all, we're moving along pretty well. I'm sure that there are the members here who can add, or perhaps the better thing we do is to hear the questions and give answers as best as we can, thank you very much. My other colleagues would like to say something while your colleagues are a little slow of the mark, may I ask them a question, why are you taking so long? I bet you're the first person who's going to ask a question as a female journalist, is that what we have? Huh? You're not sure yet, let's, let's, they're advancing, the women are rightly advancing in every field, seem as though saving except in politics, and we need more women to come forward, yes? Thank you Chairman, first of all I want to very much thank Prime Minister Gonzales for his well-experienced stewardship, I think that was a very productive session that we had here. I also want to thank the Prime Minister, Mia Motley for taking time out, we all know how busy her schedule has been, and I think that we should read into it what we're supposed to read into it, in that she's recognized, and Barbados is recognized, the importance of having a closer relationship with us at UACS, and I wanted to say that that's a feeling that's very neutral, this is not a one-sided approach, I think that Prime Minister Motley is no stranger to all of the heads, and clearly we recognize the work that she has done in Caracom wearing multiple of different hats, so I think that the timing of that meeting also was important as we are about to go to another significant meeting in the beginning of July, which is going to be the Caracom meeting, and clearly that meeting is being paved because of the document that was written by Bruce Golding, which has been well circulated, and I know that Prime Minister Gonzales has spoken on many of our behalf, on behalf of many of us, in articulating a lot of issues that have been brought up, and clearly the OECS is going to be going to that meeting with a very clear strategy of strengthening our own position, because CSME has been successful in many years and are not so successful in others, and if I was to say boldly that I feel that the OECS as an organization has been from a solution perspective much more successful and much more of a meaningful organization for us, and therefore I think Caracom has some things to learn from what we're doing here at OECS. I think what we did before and after the hurricanes, and clearly some of the other negotiations that we've been involved in, the OECS has really stood head and shoulders above other regional organizations. I'm leaving this meeting comforted in the fact that that is in the shared opinion by my other colleague heads, and that there is a renewed commitment to this organization. I think it's also important to point out the Oman's work that the Director General himself and his staff have been doing. They have certainly kept a pace despite the fact that we've not had many meetings, but they have not allowed that to be a distraction, and the Director has stayed in touch with not only me when I was chairman, but with many of the other members, and stayed focused on the job at hand. So I want to say that I'm very, very pleased with the new direction. I think that we are leaving this meeting with renewed hope in several fronts, and one of them is clearly Liat. We've agreed that we're going to be having a follow-up meeting, I believe, in Barbados to be announced very soon, in which we're going to be looking at whether we can broaden the shareholder base of Liat. We have seen some substantial improvements in Liat, but clearly there are some of us that still want to see some other structural changes at Liat. So in terms of the governance of Liat, particularly the appointment of the Board, the independence of the Board, the ability to make independent commercial decisions that may not necessarily be the ones that some states want to see, but we've got to be able to get to a structure that's successful, and therefore a mechanism to support the routes that aren't as profitable. So it's not to say it's not to fly those routes, but let us clearly understand what those costs are, and who is going to pay those additional costs, because continue to ask Liat to react to all of our needs without taking into consideration what the cost is, and who's going to pay for that is very unfair to the shareholders. So I myself am looking forward to that meeting, because aviation is critical to the continued development of our region. In the area of trade, I think the idea of improving the trade amongst the OECS, but also trying to strengthen our position within CARICOM, was something that was tackled very seriously at the meeting here today, and I think the timing is very opportune for us. We need to be able to grow our economies, and there's no point in being part of a CSME if in fact it's in name only, and it's not resounding to the economic benefit of the citizens of our country. So I think that we're certainly anxious and prepared for the meeting that's going to be taking place in July, and I can say to you that I'm leaving here strengthened and optimistic about the future of the OECS, and more importantly than I am looking forward to the meeting in July, and it's certainly not the intention of any of the heads to allow any of the issues to be put underneath the carpet. These things have to be thoroughly discussed. We have to determine how we're proceeding, but I think that we're strengthened knowing that should anything happen to CARICOM or changes take place in CARICOM, that we here in the OECS have a very strong regional organization to fall back on. So I just want to again thank the incoming chairman, and also to thank the director general and his staff for the support they've given me over the last year, and I'm looking forward to the agenda we've established for ourselves. One of the meaningful things I think is that the commitment among heads to meet on a more regular basis, so that our support and recognition of the importance of OECS has to be manifested in our actions, and I got a very strong sense there was a commitment by all the heads to make that happen. Very much Alan, question? What are the questions about? You know actually one of the things we spoke about, and in addition to what I said and what Alan has said, you know we have this form which we fill out, all an ED form. Now all of us know some, they're so long, and they repeat all these questions, the pain in the neck, many cases, and really the case for this form is becoming really less and less important. We have a computer system, people bring your passport, well you know I always have to be very careful when I talk Alan because we have some immigration officers across this, and chief immigration officers who are lords and ladies onto themselves, so I have to be very careful how I speak in public sometimes, but you bring your passport, or you show your ID card or whatever it is, and they check you to make entries to you there. If the tourism department wants to know which tourists come from where and so forth, you can get the information otherwise, and in any event we have an advanced passenger information system, when somebody under the law, and we just strengthen the law, we pass it in St. Vincent, I don't know if you pass it yet, you're just about to pass it. The advanced passenger information system, you'll even say to Lucia, come into St. Vincent, by the time you board it, we know who the passengers were coming in, and we know whether they're any bad boys and girls, who we must look out for, and so on and so forth. So this long piece of paper, you have to be filling out, and sometimes I see some old men and old women struggling, I mean I'm almost that point where I'm struggling now too, with these things. I mean it's really, you know, I would like if we could get rid of this thing, and we are serious about things like these. I must say there are some things which we have spoken about, which we can't talk all about for reasons of tactics and strategy, because we have been taught both by the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that the leaders don't talk everything. They can't talk every single thing. You have to know when to talk, what to talk. We had a very good meeting to seek to improve people's lives, and as you can see from the subject which we touched. I think Timothy wants to say something. Thank you, Chair. Let me begin by commending the government and people of St. Lucia for being an incredible, excellent host in the context of this, the 65th meeting of the authority, and of course to commend equally the OECS commission for its work in preparing the documentation. Clearly we could say that this meeting has been well organized and well put together. The addition, if you will, of Mayor Motley, I think was an important one. I should say the Honorable Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms. Motley, was an important one in the context of the lead role which Barbados plays in the context of our CSME engagement, and that particular matter had for a long period of time been given leadership support or in order his successors to it. And now, Mayor, as we look at what is to happen at Caricom, as we look at the golden document, it was important that we amount to small states which have their own peculiarities. Indeed, all countries within Caricom, one could say, small by the way of the population, but we in the OECS and Barbados represent the smallest of the small. And in that context, I think it was refreshing to find in the Prime Minister of Barbados a new partner, a new partner in the context of the CSME agenda which Barbados would provide leadership to. And we reminisce of the good old days of Orinata when I think he somewhat also inspired a lot of us in terms of his leadership of that particular agenda within the Caricom context. So we hope to see better deepening and perhaps widening of the functional cooperation with Barbados. And we look to see that then a plethora of issues that are there before us that we could find some harmonized framework between Barbados and the OECS countries. So that to me, if I were to attach to one single element that was different and which augurs well in terms of translation into tangible benefits, I would say that meeting was helpful in that context. And the place we had always wanted Barbados to be and the hope that he should have offered, we are well aware of the Maori case and long before that and subsequent to that the difficult challenge that many ordinary people felt that some way Barbados was not as open and as engaged in terms of issues to do with free movement and the associated matter of contingency rights. And so we believe a new order will come in that regard. I think we were able to discuss a number of difficult foreign affairs matters of international relations, how we will work together as a single unit to deal with the evolution of foreign policy challenges from our partners, strategic partners, the USA, North America and elsewhere as they evolve or we will deal with issues with our special friends like Venezuela, I believe that those conversations are conversations that we have to from time to time at the level of heads engage one another so that they be better coherence of policy and messaging and these critical matters. Overall I would say that we, the Senkitsa Nevis delegation is highly satisfied that this has been a useful engagement and I would want to commend all those who prepared the papers which we had to produce and to discuss all those who made arrangement with respect to other aspect of our comfort, security and hospitality and again to say thanks to the good people of St. Lucia who carried the torch and the candle with respect to this meeting. Very well and final note of commendation that perhaps from this meeting we could really believe that there is a redemption song for us as a region working together and doing great things that would be down to the benefit of the people. And the first night I was touched and I'm going to end in that one. Touched with some of the presentations that we had in particular the show of entrepreneurship coming from young people taking up new and difficult challenges such as that to do with environment health and conservation vis-a-vis the new worry of Sargasm and the potential devastation of our tourism product. To me that was an eye-opener that is more of what we would want to happen throughout the region to see young people rise to the challenge and being given the support of governments of private sector of the rest of the society so that they could well achieve their fullest potential with downed in to an upliftment of the Caribbean civilization. From the perspective of the OECS commission I want to pick up on where Prime Minister Harris left off because for me first one of the highlights of the meeting of the head there were several highlights at least four of them but one of the significant ones was the involvement of one of our 30 on the 30 youth entrepreneurs in the briefing of the heads on the Sargasm issue. The government of Grenada had made a request of the commission to take a lead in shaping a regional solution to the problem of Sargasm and we were very proudly able to present a young entrepreneur from Saint Lucia Johannes Dujon who has found a way to turn a problem into a solution and a potential industry and feel extremely I think we should all feel extremely proud that heads of government could so readily embrace a young on the 20 on the 30 entrepreneur and give him the fullest support and look at ways in which government and the youth can work together to create different solutions to major problems that we face. I want to again go on record to thank Prime Minister Shasini for the very energetic role that he has played in as former chairman in his tenure as chairman of the OECS and the very aggressive advocacy that he led on the international stage. We expect that a lot of that will continue because he's also the lead head for climate change and environment at the Currycom level and continues to push the advocacy front. Prime Minister Gonzales as we all know is an old warrior and a very strong academic so I think he brings to the chairmanship of the commission at a very critical time when we have to think very strategically about the issues confronting us that quality of leadership that comes from years of experience and political savvy. I must say that this meeting I think also marked a watershed in the conviviality and the solidarity among OECS heads. Not all of the discussions were comfortable discussions but they were very cordial they were very very frank and I think that is a very positive sign because too often in our region issues are never confronted head on and at this meeting in particular the heads were able to discuss any points of difference and at the end of the day arrive at some convergence of positions on those issues. The presence of Prime Minister Mia Motley as indicated earlier was a high point for us because she too I think has brought to the Currycom stage a new level of energy and commitment a level of commitment and clarity that is going to be very helpful in pushing the entire regional integration agenda forward and certainly I would think it fair to say that she exceeded expectations because we did make a presentation to her on areas of collaboration between Barbados and the OECS and her response to that exceeded expectations because she too had come with her own ideas far beyond some of what we were proposing on the solutions and I think it is only prudent that we see the results and the results will speak for themselves. Lastly the final high point first at the commission was the presentations made on the Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator which as you know is the coalition pulled together by people like industry leaders like Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates etc and spearheaded by Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and Prime Minister Alan Chastney and Barbados has indicated an interest in coming on board. There were some very concrete low-hanging fruits that looks very possible for us to implement with support from those private sector interests and we expect that to be a useful fast-track mechanism to solve in a lot of the problems of vulnerability that we face in the Caribbean and the OECS in particular. Questions? We received a report from the health, the health ministers. Different countries are looking at the national health insurance system but clearly there is a good situation would be if we can all whatever systems we devise or if if all those systems are devised we do them in a way that we can have a regional approach because clearly the more people you have the greater the risks could be spread and therefore the smaller the premium I mean it is a it is an elementary principle and and that is something it's not a it's not a very easy thing but whoever has the question they they they are very cognizant of the importance of of of health and especially our people are living longer the over the last 10 15 years the group 60 years and over increased close to one third the growth is about one third and though the new segment of the population remains still the largest single segment of the population proportionately the over 60s are growing at a faster pace know that that has all kind of implications for health for social security for participation rates in in the labor force and so on and so forth but we in the OECS we have done quite well with primary health care we have done very well with water a lot of people don't take that as a health issue good consistent quality water supply or pretty much universal into the homes of people at a fairly low price a lot of people take that for granted immunization of children under the age of five almost 100 percent we have good primary health care systems good public health care systems and we collect our garbage every week and we dispose them mile and wide to do it so these are things which again many of our people take for granted you don't have the percentage of persons using pit toilets for instance have fallen immensely and water closets are the one which are almost universal now all these things are very important we have a good primary health care system good secondary health care system tertiary health care there are gaps that's why many of us have to go to other countries but more and more we are seeing in the region efforts being made to collaborate for instance in the area of oncology antigas developed as a center of dealing with cancer in the case of symptoms in the grand deans we have your OECS has recognized that we are a center of excellence for critical pediatric care we have done so in conjunction with the world pediatric project a lot of same patients children from there and listen get free treatment F R E E and when I say free don't pay one cent because the high class professionals who come out of the united states they come 12 14 times a year they have a prominent presence in symptoms we have built a separate theater for them we have equipped it together and they don't charge anything for their services and when your children from st. dutcher come to symptoms for operations the heart operation scoliosis of the spine or to be the problem they have their knees and all sort of things cleft lips they all of these things come across the region the sub region they come and we do not charge one single cent because we have taken the position that whatever little we have to share it with our brothers and sisters you know is it's an unsung and untold story and I'd like you to come and and look at that particular project and by the way if we have the the for persons who if for instance you you have a complicated heart operation and you need a to have better supervision on a ongoing basis we fly you free under this project of course to virginia comworld university or the companion hospital each in hospital in saint louis missouri or in philadelphia we work with the united states embassy so that the visas can be issued for the children and parents the period it's and and then the the the recurrent expenditure I I suspect in in in um in saint usher would be in the region unhealthy vision of 10 percent maybe 11 percent the same thing in sin Vincent grenade and so on these are high percentage numbers but our people are demanding rightly more and more and better healthcare service and we are seeking to deliver but it is not cheap and I'm very glad that the question has been asked so that we can take note of many good things which we have the the the real problems we have in now in health lifestyle diseases hypertension diabetes you know cardiac arrest connected to the lifestyle disease diseases um you know um the answer so that and we'll live in longer so there we are I mean your question I've given us a synopsis I can I can talk always on this question because and I'm sure allen can and and and timity because contrary to what a number of people may think is a subject on which governments certainly do is yes in my experience that that that we always think in an acting on and a lot has been done but we have much more still to do but we've been that since I think it's any of these holes the the lead with respect to health matters in the quasi-caricum cabinet and to support the chair to the extent that we have a problem largely now with respect to lifestyle issues and our response to ncd's non-communicable diseases it was interesting because before the caricum intervene to make the matter of ncd's one which require urgent global attention not enough focus was being put upon this this area having a high level meeting at the UN in September devoted to the issue of ncd's and indeed it is in my view somewhat of a tribute to the lead role which a caricum leaders had played including of course the then head of of paho who had given excellent leadership to the scores and so in september that matter it's down on the agenda a while we have to find appropriate responses and still the messages prevention is better than cure and so we want to address these at the level of our primary engagement in the health sector or health clinics health centers etc throughout the islands particularly rural and urban centers have to again develop very strong public education programs that help people to become more health conscious issues to do with exercise and diet and stress reduction are critical was we deal with this and and and that aspect of it largely has brought perhaps some of the most significant mortality rates within the region but equally we have the communicable diseases and equally we still have a challenge of dealing with the infections with respect to hiv within the region last week in senkits we had pancap we had several carfer and so on having a series of meetings and one of the statistic that came out that within the oasis the matter of hiv infection rates was a mixed bag amount member states but within the critical cohort of 15 to 29 they were now seeing a spike in relation to that and so that is a worrying phenomenon um and we also are seen in some countries the infection rate gets higher the those who are in the 50s and so on so it would appear that post-menopause the people get a bit more less conscious of the risk factors associated with the lifestyle so we are going to have to look at that because the 15 to 29 is our most critical age in terms of product activity in communities etc and so we want to to put that on the agenda we also have to look at how we are going to finance health care because health care is a significant portion of our budgets and health care has had the support particularly the the the fight to have diminished incidents of hiv from a number of entities the global foundation pep far and so on and we have been advised that in relation to the pep for support which according to our regional health professionals have been one of the most significant contribution we have advised that the pep far will transition out of all countries by 2020 except for the Jamaica and so within the OECS we are going to face another mechanism of graduation and the question will be how do we continue to achieve success how do we continue our programs now that they will have to be carried on the state budget as opposed to being as it will be in the beneficiary of subvention we still have not yet achieved the 90 90 90 commitments that we have made with respect to hiv in particular and so the triple 90 if you will was that 90 percent of the people in our respective countries should have been tested so that we could determine whether there was a presence of hiv 90 percent of them we aspire to have treatment and anti vet arrival treatments to be provided to them and we are expected that 90 percent of those who are being treated would show viral load suppression so 90 90 90 90 percent of our people tested 90 percent of them are on treatment and 90 percent are responding positively because in future tests you are going to see a suppression of the viral loads within them that is going to be critical and that I think is still a standard which we are far behind but we have had some good news in the last December we noted that a number of countries within the OECS Senkitsa Nevis and Tiga I'm not sure which other country from the windward had joined Cuba as being the only countries in the world that had been certified over a consistent period of testing to have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV so that is a commendable achievement it's really how do you maintain that high standards so there is no worsening of our situation and at the same time help comes with a tremendous cost we have to do all that we can to avoid getting ill by living healthy and helpful lives so again this is a significant matter all of us are grappling with challenges our people when they become sick many of them become challenged to the state that must show compassion and I believe in part that has been responsible for all of us now talking about national health insurance scheme so that we could find at least one response mechanism that doesn't bankrupt the state in curing for those who become ill and unable to care for themselves in Senkitsa Nevis we have had UV consulting and provide support to us their own economic department I think it is and this significant matter and we are hoping that sometime in September we will get advice as to how we may proceed in a more deliberate manner to bring the national health insurance scheme into being in in Senkitsa Nevis any other question well if we don't you see I would have won my bet about the woman being the first one to ask the question I didn't ask you whether the question only or if you are if you had said to me which of the prime ministers would best anticipate what the people of St. Lucia would ask I would say Alan but that's not the question that's not the issue I had raised okay well thank you very much for coming by and I hope we have helped to provide a little more information and I'm sure you various countries would get more information from their governments as we go along all the best thank you very much