Following a double suicide on Wednesday on the East Bank of Berbice, President David Granger yesterday convened an emergency meeting of several ministers and vowed a hands-on approach to the scourge which has seen Guyana being tagged with the highest rate globally.
The Ministry of the Presidency said in a release that Granger convened the meeting with Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton; Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence; Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally; Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings; Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe and Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings.
The outcome of the meeting is a plan of action, which will see Non-Governmental Organisa-tions (NGOs), religious organisations and other civil society organisations being engaged to work together with Government on a centralised approach to suicide prevention.
Several civil society organisations have launched initiatives to address suicide but critics have said there has been a lot of talk but not enough work on the ground. It has also been argued that the government needs to do more.
The release said that Granger stated that he intends to have a hands-on approach to addressing this issue and will be looking to launch a national programme that has measurable outcomes. During the meeting, the President was also updated on the working of Guyana’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy which was inaugurated by the Ministry of Public Health last September. The President was also updated on work being done within the other Ministries.
Earlier in the day, the President told journalists during the weekly recording of the television programme, ‘The Public Interest’, that much more needs to be done and he intends to bring together international organisations and civil society groups to ensure that all of the factors related to suicide are identified and addressed.
Granger said, “I am concerned as President that Guyana has a higher rate of suicide than other countries. It is not as though there is an average around the world and we are just average. We are above average and that is disturbing.”
He issued a call to parents, guardians, teachers and church leaders to be more sensitive and understanding of the emotional issues that affect young people. He admonished that, “the church needs to be more careful, the home needs to be more careful, peers need to be more careful. It is a delicate period but the state cannot bear the full burden of counselling, the home is where these matters should be resolved.”
The President added that the circumstances and conditions under which people live needs to be scrutinised to understand the underlying factors responsible for the high suicide rate.“I intend to find out why we have so many suicides and once we identify those factors, try to use Governmental action and try to get the efforts of civil society and households to put this scourge to an end. We are above normal and I want to find out if its social, if its cultural, or if its economic and bring an end to it… we know what the disease is, let’s find out what the cures are,” the Head of State said. On Wednesday, Deraj Persaud, 20, and Sherryann Ali, 14, were found dead at Lonsdale. They had hung themselves.
