SAUMH Webinar 2021

SAUMH Webinar: Suicide Prevention in the South Asian region

South Asian Union for Mental Health (SAUMH) was established in 2020, following the global annual planning meeting of the Speak Your Mind campaign and the Global Mental Health Action Network (GMHAN) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The SAUMH consists of six organizations: 1) CAN MH Lanka – Sri Lanka, 2) Sangath – India, 3) Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) – India, 4) Taskeen – Pakistan 5) Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) – Nepal and 6) Mental Health PH – the Philippines.

The SAUMH was established aiming for regional collaboration for mental health campaigning and advocacy. The annual session for this year is scheduled for the 29th of September 2021 from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm IST.

There will be two rounds;

1) Research and efforts undertaken for suicide prevention – 10-minute presentation from each representative and

2) panel discussion on the same topic – 30 minutes,

followed by a Q & A session for another half an hour.

Background

Suicide is a leading cause of death for young people aged 10-24 (WHO, 2021). As per the reports of the World Health Organisation, suicide is far too common. Every year, nearly 8 million die due to suicide which is one person every 40 seconds.

Suicide results from a unique interaction of different social, economic, cultural, and health-related factors, which causes distress to individuals in their specific contexts. For instance, discrimination based on gender, class and sexuality, breakdown of intimate relationships, academic stress, violence, substance abuse, unemployment, financial distress, and lack of access to support is diverse triggers for suicide among youth.

A suicide attempt may or may not result in injury. The people who died by or attempted suicide have always been the subjects of the religion-bound societies' wrath in the past. Following this religious trail, lawmakers in the past served punishments to both the bodies of the victims and the survivors of a suicide attempt. Sometimes even the surviving family members were punished for their acts. But liberalization and education, with the help of progress in understanding the underlying causes of suicide, have led to a change in this stance worldwide.

Knowledge about suicidal behaviour has significantly increased in recent decades. Research, for instance, has shown the importance of the interplay between biological, psychological, social, environmental and cultural factors in determining suicidal behaviours. At the same time, epidemiology has helped identify many risks and protective factors for suicide both in the general population and in vulnerable groups. Cultural variability in suicide risk has also become apparent, with culture having roles in increasing danger and protecting from suicidal behaviour.

World Suicide Prevention Day, organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, is observed worldwide on 10 September each year. This year's message is "Hope Through Action", which aims to empower people with the confidence to engage with this complex subject and bring people to work together, create a movement of preventative action, with sustained messaging to drive behaviour change and ultimately, prevent more suicides. In the South and South-East Asian region, several countries have or are preparing a national suicide prevention strategy. Additionally, many suicide research units have been set up in academic courses that focus on suicide, and its prevention targeted young people, educators, families, working professionals, and others. To provide practical help, non-specialized health professionals are being used to improve assessment and management of suicidal behaviours, self-help groups of bereaved have been established in many places, and trained volunteers are helping with online and telephone counselling.

Many countries have decriminalized suicide in the past half-century, making it much easier for those with suicidal behaviours to seek help. Join CAN MH Lanka, Sangath, India and Taskeen Pakistan for a panel discussion to understand suicide prevention priorities and decriminalization in the South Asian Region.

The Panelists

Professor Murad Moosa Khan

Professor in Psychiatry

Professor Murad Moosa Khan is the Chairman of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and member of International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR). He is co-chair of Bioethics Group (BG), AKU and member of the Hospital Ethics Committee, AKU and Karachi Bioethics
Group (KBG).

Professor Diyanath Samarasinghe

Professor in Psychiatry

Professor Diyanath Samarasinghe is a professor emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has been commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) Geneva, WHO (South East Asia) and FORUT (Norway) to author books and training manuals on aspects of alcohol and tobacco treatment and prevention. He has authored and co-authored books and manuals for the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, UNICEF Sri Lanka, on Health Promotion and Child and Adolescent Development.

Arjun Kapoor

lawyer/psychologist

Arjun is a lawyer and psychologist with experience in human rights, access to justice and mental health in South Asia. He provides capacity building and legal support for implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 and National Mental Health Policy, 2014 and leads the India Mental Health Observatory.

Suraj Koirala

technical advisor - TPO Nepal

Suraj worked as Executive Director of TPO Nepal for eight years and managed several projects focused on mental health, suicide prevention women empowerment, prevention of human trafficking, humanitarian and refugee response. Currently, Suraj also serves as a Managing Director at TPO Alliance that works on mental health advoacy and capacity buidling initiatives in Nepal.

Yves Miel Zuñiga

Co-founder - MentalHealthPH

Yves is a Harvard Public Health Review Fellow and one of the co-founders of MentalHealthPH - a community with over 140,000 advocates across its accounts. As Deputy Director for Policy and Partnership, Yves has championed initiatives such as #ClickToBrick Project - a mental health campaign partnered with various schools and universities bringing online discussions to on-ground actions.

Pradeep Gunarathne (Moderator)

Occupational Therapist

Pradeep Gunarathne is a Sri Lankan occupational therapist, with more than a decade of experience as a clinician and a clinical supervisor in mental health, forensic psychiatry and child and adolescent mental health settings. He is an individual member of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), and International Network Towards Alternatives and Rights-based Supports.

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