Family Doctors fear depression and suicide may soon reach an overwhelming level if immediate steps are not taken now to fight depression.

Dr. Fred Bedzrah, a family Physician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital tells rawgist.com’s Bernard Buachi that the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies depression as the eleventh greatest cause of disability and mortality in the world among 291 diseases and causes of injury. The World Health Organization further predicts that depression will be the leading cause of disease burden by 2030; a situation that to these professionals is cause for concern.

He was speaking to rawgist.com in an interview ahead of the celebration of World Family Medicine Day.

The World Family Medicine Day is marked on the 19th May every year to highlight the role and contributions of family doctors in health care systems around the world. This important day was first declared in 2010 by the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) and continues to be celebrated all over the world.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Depression and suicide - the role of the family physician’.

Dr. Bedzrah says immediate steps need to be taken by various professionals in related fields to stem the tide of suicide.

He lamented that apart from the loss of precious human lives, depression and suicide have serious consequences for any nation.

Ghana has been hit by several reports of suicides recently; a situation that has alarmed Ghanaians and also engendered several discussions on the subject.