The government will this morning launch Kenya’s first Suicide Prevention Strategy.
The strategy developed by the Ministry of Health provides a framework for interventions to reduce suicide mortality in the country by 10pc in the next four years.
The launch comes in the wake of growing concerns over an alarming rise in suicides. According to police, more than 500 people in the country took their lives in the first six months of 2021.
Suicide which is preventable is now a global concern and a serious public health issue in every country.
According to a report unveiled on the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day last year, Kenyan health officials attributed the high cases to mental illnesses, a situation exacerbated by the hard economic times leading to depression. Frank Njenga, a renowned psychiatrist said the illness often remains undiagnosed due to stigma.
“Mental illnesses are often associated with suicidal behaviour. Suicidal thoughts associated with depression lifetime prevalence is 7.9pc while for other mental illnesses it is 5-8pc” says Health CS Mutahi Kagwe.
Who is at risk
Young people are at high risk of suicide due to heightened anxiety, indulging in drugs and alcohol and broken social relationships,” points out the health ministry which cites suicide as the fourth leading cause of death between 15 to 29-year-olds globally.
World Suicide Prevention Day, observed on 10 September every year, exists as a platform to raise awareness of suicide and to promote preventative measures with the aim to reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts globally.
According to International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) every 40 seconds, someone takes their life; that’s almost 800,000 people a year around the world, with over 75pc suicides occurring in low-and-middle-income countries.
This year’s theme, which will be the theme until 2023, is ‘Creating Hope Through Action’, which aims to empower people with the confidence to engage with the complexity of ‘hope’.
