The Mental Health Authority has called for the decriminalization of suicidal behaviour in the country.
Addressing a Press Conference to mark the Mental Health Week Celebration under the theme: ‘Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention’, Director General at the Mental Health Services, Dr Kwasi Osei, indicated that the authority has sent a petition to parliament and the Attorney General on the need for a review of that aspect of the law.
“Anybody who attempts suicide is basically saying ‘Society please I need help, Come to my rescue. And instead of rescuing the person we say go to jail…” he told Journalists.
Reports say victims of suicide in Ghana are mostly the youth and children.
The World Health Organisation has put figures of people who die by suicide each year at more than 800,000, making it the principal cause of death among people 15 to 29 years old.
For the breakdown, every 40 seconds, the world loses someone to suicide.
In Ghana, according to Dr Kwasi Osei, data available as it stands from a study by an NGO some five years ago is 1,500 deaths per annum through suicide.
