Creating Hope Through Action
Chinyere Nduu Okoro ICAP2, CMHC, CARSP
Child of God...strengthening mental health systems in Africa!
Suicide: a tragedy that affects families, communities, and institutions and often the effect lingers beyond the act. Every 45 minutes, 1 person commits suicide. The World Health Organisation has defined Suicide as a public health priority. Out of the 703, 000 deaths due to suicide each year, while you may not know someone who took their own life, there is a high chance that you know someone who has been impacted by another person's suicidal attempt or suicidal act.?
Suicide is a leading cause of death among people aged 10-29. About 40% of Nigeria's population falls within this age group. Nigeria’s mortality rate is the highest in Africa. The nation has 9.5 suicides out of 100,000 persons and many are unreported. This was 6.5 in 2012 and the rates continue to grow till now. The WHO aim to reduce that to one-third.?
The experts suggest 4 ways to take action towards achieving the suicide mortality reduction goal. They come together in the acronym “LIFE”
Let’s review how you, a global change maker, can take action at your non-profit, organization, or as an individual within the LIFE context.?
L: Limit access to means: Through your work, you can promote advocacy and legal actions that reduce people's access to means of suicide. Pesticides and insecticides have been reported to account for 20% of suicides globally. You can use your social influence to advocate for the reduction of potions of lethal materials that a person can acquire,? leverage your skills to develop better antidotes to the lethal materials or promote the use of alternative substitutes which are less poisonous. Do you even know that attempted suicide is still considered a criminal act liable to a felony charge or a one-year jail term? Legal actions can be taken to revise this punishment to counselling.?
I: Interact with the media for responsible and accurate reporting of suicide: We are really short of journalists, data collectors and expert researchers who can cover suicide cases based on agreed standards of what suicide is and what it is not. You might choose to make efforts to ensure that only true cases of suicide are recorded and that done with accuracy and totality.?
领英推荐
F: Foster social and emotional life skills for adolescents: Adolescents are people aged 10 to 19 Mental health literacy programs, emotional intelligence education and growing support groups for these age groups of individuals can access resources to build and maintain emotional and psychological resilience and well-being. Efforts can also be made to address systems that affect adolescents like mental health education for teachers and parents, maintaining a safe space for them online and offline.?
E: Early intervention for those affected by suicide: For one person who commits suicide, at least 130 other persons have been reported to suffer far-reaching emotional, physical, economic and social effects. Frontliners like doctors, nurses; immediate family members of the deceased; and community task force that rescue or recovers the deceased corpses are among high-risk individuals whose life could suffer a blow from a suicide case. Resources like community service groups, training at schools, religious communities and the media can help people affected by suicide recover faster and better.?
The above-reflected points are actionable, measurable, attainable and realistic and can be applied in Nigeria. As a leader, your commitment to excellence and impact has never been in doubt. Would you make an effort to participate or encourage those who are implementing projects around reducing the Nigerian suicide mortality rate? Would you join the train adding years to life and life to years for many? Would you take actions that create hope??
References:
C-Suite Executive Welltech, Finance, Media, Sport, Beverage Industries | Entrepreneurial Director with passion for Building Brands across diverse markets | Proven Strategic Leadership & Brand Building
1 年Thought provoking ??Resources like community service groups, training at schools, religious communities and the media can help people affected by suicide recover faster and better.?