AS Guyana continues to reshape its approach to mental healthcare, the Ministry of Health has announced critical strides in improving access, reducing stigma, and offering more compassionate treatment to those living with mental health conditions.

Among the most notable changes is the planned launch of a 24-hour suicide prevention helpline, set to be operational by the end of this year, which promises to provide real-time counselling and intervention to those in crisis.

Once ranked among the top ten countries in the world for suicide rates, Guyana has taken deliberate and decisive action to reverse that trend. In 2022, two landmark pieces of legislation—the Suicide Prevention Act and the Mental Health Protection and Promotion Act—were enacted, marking a turning point in how mental illness and suicide are addressed legally and socially.
According to the Ministry, the new legislation plays a vital role in decriminalising suicide, dismantling outdated legal frameworks, and replacing them with policies that prioritise mental wellness, community care, and dignity.

At the forefront of this transformation is Dr. Meena Rajkumar, Medical Superintendent at the National Psychiatric Hospital (NPH) in New Amsterdam. Reflecting on her tenure, Dr. Rajkumar shared that when she began working at the facility two years ago, there were 215 institutionalised patients. Since then, that number has decreased significantly, thanks to collaborative efforts between the NPH, the Ministry of Health, and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

“We make sure that we get to the bottom of what their diagnosis is,” she stated. “What we want is for people to be in the community, access quality mental health care, and at the same time, live with their family in a dignified manner… not being sent away to, in layman’s terms, a madhouse, because you have a mental health problem.”
Previously, persons with even minor mental health conditions were often sent by the courts to NPH, where they would remain for months, sometimes over a year. The new legislation has changed this by advocating community-based interventions and curbing unnecessary institutionalisation.

Echoing these sentiments, Dr. Bhiro Harry, Head of the Psychiatry Department at the GPHC, confirmed that decentralisation has been a major focus. “What we have been doing is taking mental health care delivery to the communities. We have been creating beds in general hospitals to treat people with mental health needs, and so they don’t have to be transferred from their communities to a central location in Georgetown or New Amsterdam,” he explained.

Currently, mental health clinics are available in every region across the country, with the exception of Region Eight, where telemedicine services have been introduced to fill the gap.
The upcoming suicide prevention helpline—the first of its kind in Guyana—will operate 24/7, offering counselling and crisis intervention to individuals in need. Officials say it will revolutionise how suicide is addressed, potentially saving lives by providing immediate support.

As mental health reforms continue to roll out across Guyana, the emphasis remains clear: compassion, community integration, and dignity are at the heart of the country’s evolving mental health system.