Guyana’s suicide rate reaches alarming levels

By: Tusika Martin, Edward Layne, Alexis Rodney, and Indrawattie Natram

Guyana’s suicide rate continues to escalate out of control and many are of the view that Government in spite of its promises to tackle the scourge head-on has so far done very little in this regard.

The sudden upsurge in suicide on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) within the past 30 days, coupled with the recent tragic incident in Berbice where a 14-year-old girl and her 20-year-old male paramour hung themselves, has become cause for concern.

Additionally, on Sunday alone, four other persons attempted to take their own lives in Region Two, prompting many to intensify the call for greater action at the national level to comprehensively and holistically address this social bane, particularly for the Government to act swiftly.

Gatekeepers Programme

Many social activists are calling for the Government to revert to the widely-regarded Gatekeepers Programme initiated by former Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, which during its existence was able to put a dent in the scourge.

The Gatekeepers Programme broadened the suicide prevention approach beyond the counselling centres, which were established on the premise that the potential victim would reach out and seek help. It entailed training of Gatekeepers who were taught to recognise the signs and signals in a person’s life that they were at risk of taking their own lives.

However, although the Programme was launched, it was not followed through by the former Administration.

Since 2011, under the stewardship of former Minister Dr Bheri Ramsarran, the Programme was not fully developed although there was much discussion about tackling the societal scourge by boosting its mental health capacity to deal effectively with patients and victims.

Dr Ramsarran had committed to bringing professionals to conduct training sessions so that there was a diffusion of the best mental health practices offered to the public.

Only recently, The Caribbean Voice (TCV), a Non-Governmental Organisation renewed its calls for Government to bring back the Gatekeepers Programme and use it as a mechanism to train first responders in every community.

Ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, in September 2015, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings had promised that strong attention would be placed on helping families, caregivers, schools, colleges, universities and faith-based institutions to develop strategies to tackle suicide.

Guyana has made this scourge a public health threat, and has been treating it as such. “Whilst it is a public health problem, it cannot be resolved and cannot be solved simply by public health personnel; it must be an effort that we all make, a multi-sectoral approach,” the Minister declared.

President David Granger recently convened an emergency meeting with the aim of charting a course to address the prevailing epidemic and to develop an action plan to get all stakeholders involved in a centralised approach to suicide prevention.

Regional Chairmen cry out

Meanwhile, Regional Chairmen across the country have urged Government, through the Social Protection Ministry, to restructure its programme and most of all, work towards reaching the youths, particularly those who are inclined to suicidal tendencies.

While Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is said to be the “suicide capital” of the country, other regions are seeing stark increases in its incidence.

Regional Chairmen across the country had much to say, as each year the numbers seem to climb higher. Region One (Barima-Waini) Chairman Brentnol Ashley said Government could do more at the grassroots level through detection and even offering services to persons who have these suicidal tendencies.

“Suicide is something that is thought through,” he told Guyana Times International on Tuesday, “it does not just happen haphazardly, because it is something that persons would be contemplating given the circumstance they face, especially young people. I would like to see the Social Protection Ministry try its utmost to add officers who are competent in working with the residents of the various communities.”

He listed three important elements as being critical to helping to curb this issue, including homes with parents present, the community, and Government. He said unless these three factors work together coherently, there would always be a recurrence of these incidents.

Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) Chairman Devanand Ramdatt said the current rate of suicide within his Region was quite worrying and the RDC needed to do more to address the issue.

The Chairman, during his address to Councillors at the first statutory meeting for the year on Tuesday, said that he recently visited the Suddie Public Hospital and was shocked to find out that four persons attempted suicide. He said during his visit, he discovered that most of the persons who were currently at the Hospital were very young individuals.

Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) Chairman Julius Faerber said the Social Protection Ministry needed to have unified programmes to target the youth.

“I think since Government came on board, there have not been any programmes to deal with these issues. These need to come into play. The Government can, at the regional level, have programmes put together to assist the youth in various areas.” he said.

Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Chairman Vickchand Ramphal said the Social Protection Ministry needed to play an important role in curbing this issue.

“They need to be more proactive and have an “ever- presence” in the communities to educate the youth. Whenever they are in a situation they cannot handle, they must have somewhere where they can access help and the Ministry needs to play a major role in that.”

He said it was proven that whenever there was an economic depression, coupled with high rates in criminal activities, it was found that the rate of suicide would also go up. Much more can still be done by the Ministry, he opined.

Meanwhile, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Chairman David Armogan told this newspaper that for the year 2015, 49 persons in the Region attempted suicide while 24 actually died. He said apart from Government and the Social Protection Ministry working on the ground to address the issue, they must consider banning gramoxone, which is proven to be the number one poison used by persons.

Records at the New Amsterdam Hospital show that there has been a 10.25 per cent increase in suicide attempts. For 2016, there have already been four attempted suicides recorded at the New Amsterdam Hospital. However in Region Six, three deaths have been recorded so far for the year.

Armogan said: “It is becoming a very serious problem for us in the Region. Noting that Region Six reportedly has the highest suicide rate, the Chairman said it was not a record to boast about. “This is something to be ashamed of.”

He said the Administration would have to do something to ensure that more was done to address the issue which he said was both a social and public health issue. He said suicide has become a public health issue because of the high number of persons who die as a result.

Also, Region Nine (Upper Essequibo-Upper Takutu) Chairman Bryan Allicock said: “We need programmes to be reintroduced to communities to deal with the issues.” He said the RDC has always been lobbying for more trained counsellors to be spread out in the wide expanse of the Region. According to him, while suicide was not quite prevalent there, there is high consumption of alcohol by especially the youth.