IRR calls for more suicide prevention methods
According to IRR, South Africa's suicide rate is 10.7 per 100 000 people.
THE Institute of Race Relations (IRR) recorded a high rate of suicides in South Africa and firmly believes better suicide prevention and intervention measures need to be implemented in schools and communities to reduce the statistics.
“South Africa has a suicide mortality rate of 10.7 per 100 000 people, which is higher than the comparable rate for Botswana (9.7), Egypt (2.6), Malawi (5.5) and Nigeria (9.9),” said IRR analyst, Tawanda Makombo.
Makombo noted that even though South Africa’s suicide mortality rate was lower than Angola (20.5), Cameroon (11.9) and Swaziland (14.7), the country needed to tackle the issue effectively.
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“A few months ago, in one of many cases, a 19-year-old Wits University student committed suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of a building in Braamfontein‚ Johannesburg‚ ” said Makombo..
He noted that, in South Africa’s case, factors such as unemployment and economic hardship, combined with the insufficiency of suicide prevention and intervention services, could be reasons for the country’s high suicide mortality rate.
“Proper suicide prevention and intervention measures must be set up in schools and communities if this problem is to be tackled,” he concluded.
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