Sir Kenneth Standard - Pioneer in Caribbean Public Health and Community Medicine teaching and training
Sir Kenneth Livingstone Standard of Barbados (1920-2004) Professor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), pioneered teaching and training in public health in the Caribbean. He started academic programs at UWI Mona in public health for physicians and in community health for non-physicians. He also introduced community medicine in the undergraduate curriculum and developed the Community Health Aides program for the Ministry of Health, Jamaica.
In 1972 he initiated a health aides’ programs in Jamaica. In this project, volunteer doctors and nurses conducted short courses to train residents in health care. He also set up a clinic at Mona run by UWI medical students to assist neighboring communities.
He was the founding president of the Caribbean Public Health Association (CARPHA) and his work greatly influenced public health in Caribbean countries by exploring alternatives in the delivery of health care within the constraints of limited resources by using community health aides (auxiliaries) as members of the health team.