Suicide in Guyana
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Suicide in Guyana
OR:
Suicide in Guyana on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Suicide in Guyana is a serious social problem, as
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
is ranked worst in
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
s per capita worldwide among sovereign nations.


Statistics

Domestic data on suicide in Guyana is limited, as the country's available health literature is focused mainly on infectious tropical diseases. A 2012
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
report indicated that Guyana had a suicide rate of 44.2 per 100,000 people, and that for every single female suicide, there were 3.2 male suicides. By comparison, neighboring
Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
had a suicide rate of 27.8 per 100,000, and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
's rate was 2.6 per 100,000. Sucides appear to be significantly higher among Indo-Guyanese than other ethnic groups, accounting for around 80% of total suicides. Most of suicides result from poisioning, primarily from agricultural pesticides.


Legal issues

Attempts by the government to address the issue have been stymied by political divisions. A bill was voted down in 2016 which would have amended the country's laws in order to decriminalize suicide, implemented the 2014 Mental Health Strategic Plan and a 5-year National Suicide Prevention Plan which were both crafted by the previous government, and allocated funds to treat mental health and suicide as national priorities. Speakers for the parliamentary majority argued that the manner in which the legislation was framed both politicized and trivialized the issue.


See also

*
Health in Guyana Compared with other neighbouring countries, Guyana ranks poorly in regard to basic health indicators. Basic health services in the interior are primitive to non-existent, and some procedures are not available at all. Although Guyana's health pro ...
*
Jonestown massacre The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.–based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationa ...
, the largest mass suicide in the history * List of countries by suicide rate


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suicide In Guyana Health in Guyana