Together, we can reverse rising suicide rates among our teenagers

Recently, Kenyans were shocked to learn that a 16-year-old girl in Matungulu, Machakos County, had died by suicide after being accused of stealing Sh2,500 and a packet of pencils. Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Every year, numerous cases of children dying by suicide make the news, particularly around the time of national exams. Unfortunately, many more cases go unreported on a national scale.

According to the World Health Organisation, 700,000 people die by suicide each year around the world, with the majority of them occurring in middle to low-income countries. According to the organisation, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for teenagers aged 15 to 19.

Despite limited data, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported 421 suicide deaths in 2018. In 2019, Dr Julius Korir, Principal Secretary for Health at the time, stated that suicide was the second leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 29.

But the number of suicide cases is likely to be higher due to a variety of factors, including the lack of a formal data collection system for suicides and misreporting of causes of death due to fear of stigma that families of those left behind may face.

Suicide is frequently the result of a confluence of biological, social, economic, psychological, and cultural factors. This plethora of factors, combined with the stigma attached to suicide and suicidal behaviour, complicate intervention options.

To make matters worse, survivors of suicide attempts may face a jail term. According to Section 226 of the Penal Code, "any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour" punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine.

Earlier this year, a group led by the Kenya Psychiatrists Association and the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights petitioned the High Court to declare Section 256 of the Penal Code unconstitutional. This is a step in the right direction, especially since decriminalising suicide attempts is one of the interventions recommended by the Ministry of Health in the Suicide Prevention Strategy.

If children who attempted suicide can get the help they need, it can be a fertile ground on which to begin an honest conversation that will allow us to find solutions to an escalating problem. With conversations about it out in the open, then perhaps we can begin to tackle the culture that stigmatises it.

Legal and policy support has come a long way in combating suicides, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Our national strategy recommends, in addition to decriminalising suicide attempts and declaring mental ill health a National Public Health Emergency, establishing community-based services with focus on primary mental health care. Additionally, it calls for a national suicide prevention programme that will spread information and improve access to support and treatment for suicidal behaviours and other mental health issues.

There is still a lot of work to be done to put the strategy into action, which will include funding for suicide prevention programmes, mainstreaming suicide prevention conversations, and improving data collection on suicide to advance prevention interventions. The majority of the work, however, is in touching the hearts and minds of the public and generating goodwill for suicide prevention and awareness.

On September 10, 2022 the world observed Suicide Prevention Day under the theme "creating hope through action." It is a call for governments and healthcare providers to create effective mental health systems, as well as for everyone to understand and encourage those experiencing suicidal thoughts to live another day. Our actions, no matter how big or small, can give someone who is struggling hope.