{"id":21653,"date":"2024-08-08T00:43:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T00:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=21653"},"modified":"2024-08-08T00:43:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T00:43:53","slug":"guyanas-suicide-rate-halves-for-first-time-in-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/guyanas-suicide-rate-halves-for-first-time-in-20-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Guyana\u2019s Suicide Rate Halves for First Time in 20 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p>For the first time in two decades, Guyana has witnessed a significant reduction in its suicide rate, which has dropped by half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an exclusive interview with NCN News, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony outlined the government&#8217;s ongoing strategies to maintain and further this progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Anthony emphasized that addressing underlying mental health issues is crucial in suicide prevention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To this end, the Ministry of Health has trained over 700 individuals this year as mental health gatekeepers, stationed at medical facilities to support those in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Health Minister highlighted the deployment of a mobile unit in regions three and four, equipped with psychiatrists to respond to emergency calls and provide immediate assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We have a mobile unit that operates in regions three and four. If we receive emergency calls, this unit, along with a psychiatrist, will be dispatched to offer support,&#8221; Dr. Anthony explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guided by the new National Mental Health Action Plan and National Suicide Prevention Plan 2024-2030, the gatekeepers and psychiatrists are working under a comprehensive framework designed to alleviate the mental health burden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Anthony described the plan as a crucial document developed with input from various experts and stakeholders, segmented into six key areas to address mental health challenges effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Minister urged individuals struggling with mental health issues to seek professional help, stressing the importance of community awareness and support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If you have mental health issues, they might seem overwhelming when handled alone. Talking to a professional can help you find solutions and manage your problems more effectively,&#8221; he advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those in need of assistance, Dr. Anthony encouraged reaching out to mental health professionals or contacting the mental health unit at 225-0804.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time in two decades, Guyana has witnessed a significant reduction in its suicide rate, which has dropped by half. In an exclusive interview with NCN News, Health&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365,350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-development","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21655,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21653\/revisions\/21655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}