Region Six is Guyana’s suicide capital - Health Minister

Region Six is Guyana’s suicide capital – Health Minister

May 12, 2009 News

Region Six is responsible for approximately 40 percent of suicides that occur in the country.

This is according to Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that next month the Ministry will further enhance the mental health programme and will also conclude the anti-suicide strategy. Training will commence for a number of persons in dealing with the issue of suicide.

After completing the training, these persons will be working in the communities addressing the issue, with more emphasis being placed in Region Six.

“Suicide and accidents have been, for a while, among the top ten causes for morbidity and mortality in Guyana,” Minister Ramsammy said.

Regions Three, Four and Five will also be targeted for suicide discussions during the course of the year.

Recently, Minister Ramsammy had revealed that almost 200 suicides occur in Guyana each year. He recognised that this is a major public health scourge that needs immediate attention.

Over the past five years, the police reported that an average of 150 persons die by suicide each year, but the Ministry of Health has found that the deaths by suicide are more than what are actually being reported.

It was reported that in 1988, Guyana reported that only 150 suicide deaths occurred at that time, but explained that barely half of the deaths were being reported.

However, today all suicides are being recorded as the Ministry of Health actually verifies every death in Guyana.

“I’m sure that people are not unaware that some death certificates may not report the actual cause of death, whether it’s an HIV death or a suicidal death because there is a stigma related to that. And so we go back to the source to find out the actual cause of death,” Minister Ramsammy had said.

In addressing the suicide problem, the Ministry recognizes that alcohol and other substance abuse issues are facilitating factors that lead to suicide while depression is a major cause for persons killing themselves

It was explained that depression guidelines have been developed and the Ministry will soon introduce depression diagnosis and treatment across the primary health care system.

It was noted that in every country of the world, suicide is in the top five causes of death between the age group of 15 – 44.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported an average of 1.5 million deaths per year, but pointed out that this only represents between 50 – 60 percent of the actual suicide deaths.

In spite of reporting 1.5 million deaths, the WHO estimates that the figure is actually two million to three million deaths globally per year. (Fareeza Haniff).