Georgetown : Tomorrow marks the observance of World Suicide Prevention Day 2013 and the main opposition A Partnerships for National Unity (APNU) calls on the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration to implement coherent strategies aimed at reducing and preventing the high incidence of suicide in Guyana. APNU claims that the establishment of the National Committee for Suicide Prevention (NCSP) six years ago under the chairmanship of the Minister of Home Affairs has failed to curb the suicide epidemic. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy, apparently, has been abandoned.
APNU calls attention to the fact that a large proportion of persons who die by suicide suffer from mental illness. Yet a significant number of those with mental illnesses who die by suicide in Guyana do not have access to the appropriate health or social services near the time of their death. The World Health Organisation reports that approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide each year.
APNU is urging the ruling administration to mark this year’s observances by demonstrating dynamic leadership in curbing the spate of suicides in this country. The Government’s complacency towards suicide contributes to the continuation of this crisis. The Partnership, therefore, calls on the Government to take the lead in the fight to prevent suicide. We call on the Government to use the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day to announce a new plan to deal with the crisis.
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