GUYANA: Guyana crafts suicide emergency plan
February 05, 2016
To supplement Guyana’s 2015-2020 National Suicide Prevention Plan, a Suicide Emergency Plan was developed for the nation at a recent meeting of several of its government ministers and representatives of United Nations agencies. Under the overall coordination of a national multi-stakeholder task force, non-governmental organizations and faith-based organizations will be mobilizing and coordinating activities at the community, regional, and national levels. Areas of focus will be developing and providing methods of coping, making changes in the Health and Family Life Manual to address suicide in schools, providing appropriate messages to the public, and consulting on issues such as parenting education. The stakeholders will also develop ways to reduce access to means of suicide, including pesticides, prescription medications, jumping, and firearms. Training on responding to suicidal behavior will be provided to health care providers and others. A multi-sectoral task force will work to improve data collection, management, and analysis, a response to the “dire need for research on the different determinants of suicidal behavior specific to our cultural setting,” according to the Ministry of Public Health.