The Rotary Club of Tortola is hosting Grand Affair 'Havana Night' on March 23, 2023, with proceeds going towards funding and improving cancer prevention and treatment as well as expansion of the local Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP).

Mr Smith was at the time having a discussion with Rotary Club of Tortola’s Lorna G. Smith on the fundraiser and the need for more research and funding for cancer treatment and prevention in the VI. 

“Over the last several months, we've had a lot of [cancer] passings and we continue over the years actually and it seems to be like, let me just say persons are beginning to think that we have an environmental problem that's contributing to the development of cancer," Mr Smith stated on his show Umoja on ZBVI 780AM on January 16, 2023.

He said the proliferation of death by cancer in the Virgin Islands is now at a rate that warrants investigation, as well as the need to focus on cancer prevention.

Need for investigative funding 

“We need investigations funding to look at the environment to see where in the environment and what [in the] environment is causing the increase in cancer patients,” he added. 

According to Mrs Smith, data is needed to do much to improve services in the VI, “As far as possible we should know whether there is evidence of this... what our suspicions are” she said as it relates to environmental contributors to cancer in the VI. 

Mr Smith said, overall, the funding in the VI must be able to contribute to an assessment of environmental issues as well as the prevention of cancers, along with treatment of the disease.