Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, said understanding the circumstances surrounding suicide is of paramount importance.
Against this background Ramsammy said suicide is not a crime.
“People that commit suicide have problems,” he said.
According to the laws of Guyana, suicide is a crime; however, at present, that law is not being enforced. Official reports in the media in the past indicated that law enforcers would be more active in enforcing this law. However, no such effort has been made.
He added that as Minister of Health, his position on the matter is clear and if there is ever a Health Minister who thinks otherwise, he should no longer hold that post.
Ramsammy pointed out that it is the role of the Health Ministry, in partnership with other entities, such as the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, to work towards providing assistance to would-be suicides.
He explained that by criminalizing suicide, a stigma is attached to anyone who commits the act and his family who survive. Ramsammy said this will not work since additional trauma is being placed on those affected.
He made it clear that persons who attempt suicide and the families that survive such an act need help and do not need the burden of fear that comes with criminalizing suicide.
The Health Minister said the Health Ministry will continue its interventions to address suicide in a holistic manner.
“This is just the beginning stages of work,” Ramsammy said.
The Health Minister said the Ministry continues to build its capacity to respond to the Public Health scourge of suicide, but noted that while Guyana has developed a surveillance system to track all suicide deaths, the tracking process is still weak.
According to him not, all attempted suicides end up at a health care delivery institution.
In the event that they do, Ramsammy said the families sometimes succeed in getting the cooperation of the health worker to keep the incident quiet, because of the stigma attached to it.
The Health Minister said reporting is a requirement because the Ministry is interested in gathering information, not traumatizing the family.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health is now requiring all hospitals to report any suicide attempt case to the Ministry within 24 hours.

Startling Statistics
Ramsammy noted that there were 946 reported suicide deaths in Guyana for the same 2003 to 2007, which translates to a suicide rate of 25 per 100,000 persons.
The Health Minister indicated that 80 per cent of these deaths were males, and 60 per cent of all suicide deaths are attributable to pesticide poisoning.
Ramsammy said it is not a case that more men commit suicide than women, but that women use less lethal methods. A point to note is that more men are successful in committing suicide than woman.
He added that suicide is the leading cause of death among young people 15-24, and the third leading cause of death among persons aged 25-44.
Among youth, 15-19, suicide is the leading cause of death among females and the second leading cause of death among males.
The Health Minister noted that the highest numbers of completed suicides are consistently found in Regions Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) and Six (East Berbice / Corentyne), as compared to the rest of the country.
Ramsammy stated that suicide rates are consistently highest in Region Six with there being 50 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons.
This, he pointed out, is followed by Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) with 36 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons.
Region Three (West Demerara/ Essequibo Islands) reportedly has the third highest suicide rate, with 24 per 100,000 persons, and is followed closely by Regions Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Four, with 22 and 20 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons, respectively.