Opposition loses motion on curbing rise of suicide rate

Aug 05, 2016 News

“They want to steal our thunder and pontificate as though they are the genuine ‘Popes and Bishops’ of the issue and they are not.” – Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan
By Kiana Wilburg

Even after putting forward significant arguments, the political opposition still lost the fight to

Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan

have its motion on curbing the rise of the suicide rate in Guyana, successfully passed in the National Assembly yesterday.
The motion was brought before the House by PPP Member, Dr. Vindhya Persaud.
The Opposition parliamentarian said that the incidence of suicide has been consistently increasing in 2016 with the younger members of the population taking or attempting to take their lives. Dr. Persaud said that suicide accounted for 1.4 per cent of all deaths worldwide in 2012, making it the 15th leading cause of death. Among the age group of 15 to 30, anywhere in the world, suicide is among the top three causes of deaths, she said.
The Member of Parliament told the House that in Guyana’s case, suicide has ranked in the top 10 causes of death for the last several decades. She said that in the age group 15 to 24, suicide ranks between one and three, in terms of the top causes of deaths. Dr. Persaud said that in the 1980s, suicide deaths were about 200 to 250 per year. In the last decade it has been between 150 and 200 cases per year.
The politician also informed her colleagues that it is estimated that there are between 1,500 to 2,000 attempted suicide cases each year or about one attempt every five hours in Guyana. Around the world, she said, it is estimated that there is one suicide attempt almost every second.
Dr. Persaud asserted that while Guyana has done no such studies, it is estimated that suicide costs the Health Ministry, conservatively, about $600M to $900M annually, excluding the loss of life, family income and emotional and psychological anguish for the surviving family members.

PPP Member, Dr. Vindhya Persaud

The Member of Parliament said that the majority of suicides occur among people suffering mental health conditions and illness such as depression, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. Social issues such as alcohol abuse, poverty and unemployment also contribute to the growing number of suicide cases.
“The current economic situation in the agricultural communities due to falling rice prices, loss of income and consequential foreclosures on loans in the banking sector, coupled with the state of the sugar industry where jobs are under threat, and, the unemployment of thousands of people in the last nine months in the public service and general society, are leading to a state of despair and hopelessness which are factors contributing to this rise,” Dr. Persaud asserted.
She added, “Whilst there are cultural, religious, class and other prejudices that inhibit people from seeking help for mental health problems, the mental health services are inadequate to meet the demand, with only three full time psychiatrists (based in Georgetown and New Amsterdam), insufficient hospital beds and trained personnel in the National Psychiatric Hospital, and no day treatment or community residential facilities, and, inadequate numbers of counselors, to help and treat patients.”
Dr. Persaud stressed that there are insufficient counselors in the educational system, both private and public, to provide support to students of all ages. She said that the availability and easy accessibility of poisons, especially in rural agricultural communities, contributes to making this the easiest method of committing suicide in Guyana.
She called on the Government to implement the comprehensive 2014 Mental Health Strategic Plan and the National Suicide Prevention Plan 2015 — 2020 which was crafted under the PPP government. She also called for the Government to ensure that funds are allocated to provide the financial, human, technical and physical infrastructure needed to treat mental health and level of suicide as a national health priority;
The Opposition Member also emphasized the need for the Ministry of Public Health to resuscitate the National Suicide Prevention and Control Committee with regional committees, comprising both professionals from health, education, law enforcement and civil society, so as to update and lead the National Strategy to Prevent and Control Suicide Committee within three months of its appointment, on a national education and awareness campaign.
There were several other speakers on this motion, some of whom included the Opposition’s Yvonne Pearson and Dr. Frank Anthony. The Government’s side was represented by Junior Public Health Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings; Minister within the Ministry of Education, Nicolette Henry and Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan.
Like his colleagues on the eastern side of the House, Ramjattan said that he could not support the motion. The politician also expressed disappointment that the Opposition members would have the temerity to belittle the significant efforts being made by the Government on the fight against suicide.
Ramjattan said that the Opposition never saw it fit to do many of the things it proposed in its motion. In fact, the Public Security Minister saw the PPP’s motion as an attempt to steal Government’s thunder, since it included several of the initiatives already being embarked on by Government ministries.
“They want to steal our thunder with this motion, and come and pontificate as though they are the genuine Popes and Bishops of the issue and they are not. We have done a number of things in the government, including being accommodating to a number of NGOs,” the Parliamentarian expressed.
In the end, Ramjattan acknowledged that the fight against suicide requires a collaborative effort, and on that note, he said that he is willing to work along with the Opposition on the matter. He stressed, however, that he could not support the motion in its original form.
In closing the debate, Dr. Persaud said she was heartened by Ramjattan’s openness to collaboration and thanked her colleagues for their support on her motion.