Georgetown : Government has taken umbrage with the recent figures given by the World Health Organisation which gives Guyana the ranking of having the highest suicide rate per capita in the world.
Government’s spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon, at his post-Cabinet media briefing, said that the way in which the number suicide deaths is calculated by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), does not accurately reflect what is recorded by the Guyana Police Force and the Health Ministry.
Dr. Luncheon said that the Ministry of Health’s reports form the basis of reports that are circulated. These reports are then utilised by the WHO and PAHO which employ “statistical devices” to ascertain their figures, he added. “They have a statistical tool or tools that they use to convert our data into numbers that allow them to compare and contrast Guyana with other countries and therein lies the difficulties”.
The Guyana Police Force’s Criminal Investigation Department, the Cabinet Secretary said, have records which are overstated by the Health Ministry and even more so by the international community’s organisations.
“Cabinet has agreed that efforts must be made to affect the necessary reconciliation. There must be some mechanism to satisfy Guyana and the Cabinet about the accuracy of these reports and efforts are being made to do that”.
In terms of combating incidences of suicide, the Health Ministry has launched a new Mental Health Strategy which will see special focus being placed on suicide causes and prevention.
