This year’s budget will include special funding for Guyana’s suicide prevention efforts, according to Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton.
In an invited comment yesterday, Norton explained that this decision was reached at a Cabinet meeting held on Saturday last.
The funds, which will form part of the budget for the Ministry of Public Health, will be available for use by any of the ministries and other stakeholders that form part of a recently-constituted partnership to address suicide prevention. “As long as you have a programme which is in line with our suicide prevention plan and its proposed impact can be justified, then access to the funds may be granted,” Norton said.
This decision came one day before a meeting with various stakeholders to, among other things, prepare a draft budget, establish a technical task force to implement a joint work plan and define the roles, responsibilities and functions of all partners.
Up to last week, there had been more than one attempted suicide each day with at least five completions. There were two reported attempts on Saturday and one of the individuals died. Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 10 to 24 years and statistics released in 2012 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have shown that in Guyana, roughly one person dies every day and a half.
Sunday’s meeting has resulted in a decision to rapidly establish a multi-stakeholder taskforce to coordinate the work of four strategic areas and to provide feedback to the key ministers and government.
Present at Sunday’s meeting were the ministers of Public Health, Indigenous Affairs, Social Protection and Tourism and Telecommunications as well as the ministers within the ministries of Public Health, Education, and Communities. Other stakeholders present included representatives of PAHO/WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board, as well as health professionals.
In a press release issued yesterday, the Public Health ministry said that Norton appealed to the various stakeholders present at the meeting to become involved in the implementation of an “action-oriented plan that will address the needs of the most vulnerable groups in society in an effort to curb the escalating trend in suicides in Guyana.”
According to the release, the participants were provided with a summary of the National Suicide Prevention Plan (NSPP) 2015-2020 as well as an overview of the current suicide statistics.
“The NSPP as presented will provide for the development of a joint work plan including a wide cross-section of partners. The work plan will enable collaboration among government ministries, international partners, NGOs and other stakeholders,” the release added.
The ministry further explained that the plan’s multi-sectoral approach will focus on several activities in the following four strategic areas: Risk factor reduction, health promotion and prevention; reducing access to the means of suicide; improving health systems response to suicidal behaviour; and strengthening surveillance and research on suicide in Guyana.
The first strategic area of action will explore the importance of coordinating and mobilising various groups at the community, regional and national levels as well as the development of an Information Education Communication Framework. It will also include the use of consultants in “neglected areas such as Parenting Education, Coping Mechanisms, Youth Friendly Spaces and a modification of the Ministry of Education’s Health and Family Life Manual to address issues of suicide in schools.”
The second strategic area will involve devising means of reducing access to various means of suicide. The release explained that the most important plans indicated are the enforcement of regulations on the sale, distribution and storage of pesticides at all levels. To this end, there will be the creation of “Poison Control and Management Centre in affected communities with necessary training of persons following National Conventions and food and chemical safety goals directed towards the reduction in the use of pesticides, especially those of high toxicity.”
Strategic action number three will focus on improving the capacity of the health care system and the nation as a whole through training and other efforts aimed at adapting attitudes to better respond to suicidal behaviour.
Meanwhile, the fourth strategic action will see the formation of the multi-sectoral task force and secretariat to manage and evaluate data collected in relation to suicidal behaviours. This action, the release noted, “corresponds to the dire need for research on the different determinant of suicidal behaviour specific to our cultural setting.”
