By Favour Ajibade
No fewer than says 700,000 people commit suicide annually across the world, the country' representative of World Health Organisation (WHO) Mr Walter Kazkadi has said.
He spoke at the 2022 World Suicide Prevention Day recently in Nigeria.
This year theme is: " Creating Hope Through Action and serve as a reminder that there is an alternative to suicide".
Kazkadi said that the theme aspires to inspire confidence and light in all of us, adding that the theme aims to inspire individuals to be in charge of their lives and further value themselves.
He said one can create hope for the suicide bound people by highlighting the importance of setting suicide prevention as a priority for public agenda for countries globally.
According to him, 77 per cent of all global suicides occurring in low-and-middle-income countries, adding that for every suicide, there is likely 20 other people making a suicide attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide.
Adding that: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.
“Every suicide is a tragedy that has an impact on the people left behind, families, communities, and the entire nation.
“Suicides are preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions. For national responses to be effective, a comprehensive multisectoral suicide prevention strategy is needed.
“In 2013, the World Health Assembly adopted the Mental Health Action Plan 2013 – 2020 and identified suicide prevention as an important priority for achieving the global target of reducing the rate of suicide in countries by 10% by 2020. Nigeria has shown commitment to this target by first of all establishing the new National Mental Health Programme in the Federal Ministry of Health to provide strategic leadership on mental health activities and also worked closely with the National Assembly to develop a new mental health bill which aligns with international standards. We are all eagerly awaiting the assent of this bill by H.E. The President of Fed6eral Government of Nigeria”, he said.
He pledged the support of WHO to continue supporting the country to implement priority activities towards mental health including suicide prevention and control.
He said that WHO,in the coming weeks will be supporting the review and update of the 2013 National Mental Health Policy, development of a national framework for suicide prevention and commemoration of the 2022 World Mental Health Day.
Also, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Enahire , urge Nigerians to create more awareness on how to reduce suicide and further encourage them that suicide is not the best option to end one's life.
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