THE Ministry of Health is continuing its capacity building to address suicides, as its statistics show that the scourge affects 25 out of every 100,000 in the Guyana population. It is being done by the Ministry’s Mental Health Unit, in collaboration with Dalhousie University, through the current training of 10 health workers to conduct the ‘Suicide Follow Back Study.’
The latter undertaking involves an intensive series of interviews with persons close to the victims, combined with a review of health records, coroner’s reports and administrative data designed to reconstruct the circumstances associated with a suicidal death.
Structured clinical interviews are used to document psychiatric symptoms, life stressers, socio-economic information and the context in which the suicide took place.
This detailed method can reveal some of the complex risk and protective factors associated with the incidence and can help inform the development of informed prevention initiatives, said the facilitator and consultant, Mr. Jack Hicks.
He said understanding is key to the success of any such intervention and the world’s successes clearly indicate that it began with comprehending the characteristics of at risk population.
Hicks said risk factors are different in every population, every society and he lauded the efforts being made by Guyana.
He said, as a developing one, this country is taking the lead in addressing the issue of suicide.
Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said the primary success, locally, to date, has been surveillance and reporting of suicides.
He said, globally, the rate is 16 in every 100,000 people but that may not be the true picture because there is much underreporting.
Added to that, it is estimated that, for every committed suicide, there are between five and ten attempts, another statistic that has been difficult to capture.
Ramsammy said maintaining surveillance and making an effort to understand the issue will enable the Ministry to advance its training programmes and enhance its capacity to deal with the tragedy.
He reminded all health care institutions that suicides and, more importantly, attempts that reach the sector must be reported within 24 hours.
Requirement
Ramsammy said the requirement is part of the Ministry of Health Act as well for the licensing of private health care institutions and non-compliance has consequences.
He called for a broad approach to be taken because suicide is a complex issue that has to be addressed at a multi-sectoral level.
Ramsammy said there were 946 reported cases for the period 2003 to 2007, which translates to a suicide rate of 25 per 100,000 persons.
He said 80 per cent of the deceased were males and 60 per cent of all are attributable to pesticide poisoning.
Ramsammy said suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24 years and the third among persons between 25 and 44 years.
Among the 15 to 19-year-olds, suicide is the top leading cause of death among females and the second leading cause of death among males, with the highest number of all suicides, consistently, in Regions Four (Demerara/Mahaica) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), as compared to the rest of the country, he said.
Ramsammy said the rates are highest in Region Six, 50 per 100,000 persons, followed by Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), with 36 per 100,000 persons.
Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) reportedly has the third most, 24 per 100,000 and following are Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Four with 22 and 20 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons, respectively.
“These statistics highlight the need to develop and implement effective suicide prevention strategies. Unfortunately, there are few well conducted studies nationally and globally on interventions for suicide prevention that have demonstrated efficacy in reducing suicide rates,” Ramsammy said.