The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Association for Suicide Prevention mark September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day, to help end the stigma surrounding suicide. It is a day designed to send a message to the world that suicide can be prevented. Ghana successfully decriminalised suicide in March 2023, raising hopes other African countries will do the same. Constitutional petitions in Kenya and Uganda challenging legal provisions that criminalise suicide have been launched, and the civil society groups organising these petitions are in close contact with their counterparts through the Global Mental Health Action Network. The organisation United for Global Mental Health has developed a network of advocates through the Global Mental Health Action Network. They have joined forces to press countries that still classify suicide as a criminal offence to change their laws.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
