Minister of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville outlined the government’s response to the rise in suicides at a recent press event.
Dr. Darville told reporters, “we are definitely looking at the incidents of suicides. The Mental Health Bill is a very sophisticated piece of legislation and it requires a lot of moving parts. The first part of the initiation in bringing the Mental Health Bill into force was to train mental health community nurses. I’m pleased to report that we have already trained some forty one (41) mental health community nurses and they are supposed to be deployed in the community. Going into community, they will not be clinic based but they will be community based.”
There has been a noticeable increase in suicides on the island of Abaco. Police reported that the body of a 63 year old man was found on Guana Cay in alleged suicide on March 5th. On March 23rd, a 79 year old man allegedly attempted suicide at a residence in Pelican Shores.
Friendship Tabernacle Associate Pastor, Edgburt Tinker told ZNS News, “suicide is on the increase and I think it comes from the frustration of people not being able, some of them, to pay their bills.”
He went further saying, “these are just rough times, times are rough. People out there, some of them, hardly can find food. It’s really tough but there is a God and my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. If you don’t know him you hve to get to know him.”
The Associate Pastor encouraged people suffering with issue to seek assistance. “We do have over one hundred churches in Abaco and they can go or they can call our President of the Christian Council and there’s social service here and there’s the general clinic.”
