Suicide Prevention Programmes Being Expanded

The Government is expanding its suicide prevention programmes, through partnerships, strengthening of the Ministry of Health and Wellness team, and training of community persons to offer interventions.

Making the disclosure during his contribution to the 2023/2024 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 3, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said the programmes will be enhanced through collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the Problem Management Plus (PM+).

“Already the programme has trained 119 community members from entities such as churches, civic groups, and community-based organisations, providing them with basic tools for counselling and psychosocial support. This year, the intention is to conduct ongoing recruitment and training of supervisors to provide services to more communities. The goal is to meet a target of 180 providers and 30 supervisors,” the Minister said.

He added that in an effort to engage youth who have suffered “tremendous trauma” from the coronavirus (COVID-19), his Ministry has partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to implement the U-MATTER Mental Health Chatline, which has conducted more than 2,000 counselling sessions, treating issues such as suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, stress and mood disorders.

“We must take a proactive approach in dealing with the mental health challenges with our young people. Our colleagues in the Ministry of Education and Youth understand and are seized with the importance of providing mental health first aid, so as to prevent our young people from having negative mental health outcomes. Last year, we started to address the mental health challenges by strengthening our capacities within educational institutions,” he said.

Through that initiative, Minister Tufton reported that 531 school personnel have been trained in understanding how to optimise and maintain good mental health, understanding mental disorders and their treatments, decreasing stigma, and enhancing help-seeking efficacy, which is “knowing when and where to get help and having the skills necessary to promote self-care and how to obtain good care”.

He also reported that he has appointed Senator, Dr. Saphire Longmore, to work along with the mental health team in the Ministry, to strengthen and enhance the school engagement programme, for the involvement of at least 50 additional schools as part of the #DoYourShare Campaign, which prioritises, among other things, the creation of safe spaces for young people who may be experiencing mental health challenges.

“We will begin to implement a comprehensive overhaul of the Bellevue Hospital to address the over 400 social cases currently housed at the institution,” the Minister said, adding that under the Mental Health Act and the National Health Services Act, the Ministry will be creating facilities to properly rehabilitate and reintegrate into society, individuals who have been impacted by different types of mental health challenges.