Bangladesh minister calls for promoting mental health to prevent suicide

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira has stressed promoting mental health for preventing suicide which is considered as a public health problem by the WHO.

Considering the impact, she said the government had already introduced the mental health services in the primary healthcare.

She was speaking at a seminar on Thursday in Dhaka marking the World Mental Health Day.

The National Trauma Counselling Center of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Department of Clinical Psychology of Dhaka University, and Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society jointly organised the event.

The theme of the day this year is ‘mental health promotion and suicide prevention’.

The World Health Organisation estimates 800, 000 people globally lose their life to suicide every year, equating to around one person every 40 seconds.

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29, with people of all ages vulnerable.  Though suicide is a global issue, nearly 79 percent of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.

The WHO South-East Asia Region of which Bangladesh is a member is the world’s most affected region, accounting for 39 percent of global suicide mortality.

Bangladesh does not have national data to say the prevalence of suicide. But a 2014 report, titled “Preventing suicide: A global imperative,” suggests it is eight per 100,000 people.

The state minister said with the development and changing lifestyle, people are suffering from mental health problems due to many complicacies in life.

“We need to be aware of that. Prevention is the key,” she said, seeking support from all.

She said the government is giving mental health a priority and for that enacted the mental health act in 2018.

Vice-chancellor of Eastern University Prof Shahid Akhter Hossain, Chairman of the Clinical Psychology Department Mosammat Nazma Khatun, National Trauma Counselling Center’s project director Dr Abul Hossain, and Clinical Psychology Society’s General Secretary Md Jahir Uddin also spoke at the seminar chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Kamrun Nahar.

The World Mental Health Day is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma.

It was first observed in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organisation with 150 member countries.

ACTION IN FOUR KEY AREAS

WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh in a statement said the Region’s Member States are taking important steps to address the issue of mental health and suicide.

“Action in four key areas is needed,” she said.

First, leadership and governance for suicide prevention should be strengthened. National policies or strategies for suicide prevention should be developed and implemented in line with evidence, best practices and international and regional human rights conventions.

To help do that, appropriate budgets should be allocated, and institutional, legal and service arrangements adjusted appropriately.

Second, she said, health authorities should shift the focus of care towards non-specialised health settings for persons at risk of suicide. Comprehensive, community-based health and social care services ought to be developed and integrated with primary and hospital care, while continuity of care between different providers should be ensured.

Greater collaboration is needed between informal health care providers, religious leaders and schoolteachers among other community members.

Third, strategies that promote mental, social and physical health and prevent suicide should be developed and rolled out across sectors.

By engaging communities in programme design, common determinants that promote suicide can be identified and countered, while community-based interventions can be encouraged.

It is essential that interventions and programmes do not in any way promote or glamorize suicidal ideation.

Fourth, surveillance for suicide should be established and strengthened and, wherever possible, linked to other sources of data. Sex- and age-disaggregated data ought to be collected and measured, while the direct and indirect costs of suicide and attempted suicide should be collated, she said.