Health News of Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Source: otecfmghana.com/kwaku anane jr.

Preventing suicide is a shared responsibility – KNUST

Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology (KNUST) Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology (KNUST)

Suicide is one of the tragic cases recorded in the country this year particularly in the various tertiary institutions in Ghana.

Research indicates that over the last 45 years, suicide rates have been steadily increasing, using data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In order to reduce this act the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology (KNUST) Kwame Yeboah has called on Ghanaians to join hands in a shared responsibility to reduce it.

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a result has designed moves to reduce the number of suicide cases recorded in the institution by setting up a counselling centre.

This follows a recent suicide report of a level 100 B.A. Geography and Rural Development student at the university.

Mr. Kwame Yeboah, who was saddened by the incident, disclosed that “the gentleman is in first year but not a fresher.

The deceased, Stephen Nana Agyei Manu, was reportedly found dead in the female washroom of the School’s Central Classroom Block Building with a bottle of No Pesticide on Thursday afternoon.

”He enrolled in 2015/2016 academic year but had medical challenges so had to back out, and then came back again last academic year and still had the same problem and had to go back again, and came back again with a clean bill of health to start,” he explained.

The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the KNUST hospital morgue, while police conducts investigation into the matter.

This brings to two (2) the number of suicide cases recorded in the institution this year.

“We have a well resourced counseling centre, we’ve taken the students through orientation and advised them to visit the centre with any problems they may encounter.

This is what we are currently doing, informing them, helping them, getting them all the information they need as to where to go when they need anything,” he said.

According to Mr. Kwame Yeboah, everybody has a problem and the most important thing is that there must be places where people can visit to seek counseling to reduce pressure and find solutions to their problems.

He therefore urged students to respect individual rights and desist from mocking others since it undermines and kills their self esteem.