Psychiatrist seeks concerted efforts toward passage of Suicide Prevention Bill

The Coordinator, Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group, Taiwo Sheikh, has called for concerted efforts of all stakeholders to ensure passage of the Suicide Prevention Bill before the National Assembly.

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Mr Sheikh, also a past President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

He explained that the Suicide Prevention Bill, before the National Assembly, had passed through the first reading and was awaiting second reading.

He called for the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to address the determinants of suicide to ensure the prevention of suicide and attempted suicide, saying that effective prevention and intervention required a multilayered approach.

He said the increasing rate of suicide and its corresponding devastating effects made it pertinent for stakeholders, including governments, families, policy-makers and organisations, to collectively look at the issue to address it.

According to him, suicide is a behaviour motivated by the desire to escape unbearable psychological pain.

Mr Sheikh, who called for increased advocacy on suicide, provision of support through prevention and treatment, emphasised the need for decriminalisation of suicide to pave the way for effective suicide prevention and control in Nigeria.

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“Effective prevention and intervention require a multilayered approach that encompasses community engagement, healthcare service enhancement and robust policy support,” he said.

“Hence, the need for a social support system and education of the populace on the psychological determinants of suicide and how to cope with them.

“The social and economic determinants are the major causative factors of mental health conditions and suicide in Nigeria, hence the need to address them,” he said.

The psychiatrist said that mental health, including determinants of suicide, affected millions of people, adding that stigma and cultural misconceptions often compounded these issues.

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He explained that insufficient public spending on mental health and suicide prevention is a major barrier to assisting those in need.

According to him, effective suicide prevention can only take place through a whole-of-society approach that involves the government, civil society organisations and community leaders.

(NAN)