Guyana’s government intends to step up its efforts to curb the problem of suicide in the country,
On Thursday, President David Granger convened an emergency meeting with a number of government ministers including the Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton and the Minister of Social Protection, Ms. Volda Lawrence.
The meeting was called in an effort to begin charting a course to address the problem.
It decided on a plan of action, which will see Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Religious organisations and other Civil Society organisations being engaged to work together with Government on a centralised approach to suicide prevention.
President Granger indicated that he intends to have a hands on approach to addressing the issue and will be looking to implement a national programme that has measurable outcomes.
During the meeting, the President was also updated on the implementation of Guyana’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy, launched by the Ministry of Public Health, last September, with a view to ramping up Government’s response to the on-going problem. In addition, the President was provided with updates on work being done within the other subject Ministries.
Mr. Granger has admitted that much more needs to be done to address the problem of suicide and he intends to bring together international organisations and civil society organisations to ensure that all of the factors related to suicide are identified and addressed.
Just two days ago, a pregnant 14 year old girl and her 21 year old boyfriend were found hanging in the man’s Berbice home in an apparent suicide.
Last year Guyana recorded 89 suicide cases.
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