Decriminalising suicide - New dawn for mental health

Last Tuesday, Ghana took a significant step and joined the group of countries that have decriminalised suicide attempt.

Until Parliament’s amendment of sections of the Criminal Offences Act on suicide, Ghana was among the 20 countries which still punished people for attempted suicide.

The repeal of the act followed a Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim Central, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, who is also the Chairman of the Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Committee of Parliament, and the Ranking Member on the committee and MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor.

Suicide remains a major public health problem worldwide and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than 700,000 people worldwide die due to suicide every year.

Also, for every suicide, there are many more people who attempt it.

In the past, the act was considered a criminal offence to serve as a deterrent to people from trying to take their lives.

History also reveals that the major religions of the world have classified suicide as a sin or being against the tenets of the religions.

Therefore, most countries with a dominant religion have incorporated this moral stance into their initially unwritten and subsequently written laws.

It is instructive to note that statistics available show that criminalising suicide has not achieved its objective and advocates have always maintained that attempted suicide is a public health issue and not an offence, for which reason the survivor should be considered a patient and provided with treatment and not sent to prison.

According to statistics from Ghana’s Mental Health Authority (MHA), in 2018, the number of people who attempted suicide was 797.

That rose to 880 in 2019 and 902 in 2021, while the number who died by suicide went up from 69 in 2020 to 86 in 2021.

There are many cases that are not reported because of stigma and fear of community backlash and legal repercussions.  

On the contrary, a WHO report and data show that the legal status on suicide around the world in the last 50 years has changed significantly.

The WHO report (2014) shows that decriminalisation has had some positive effects in countries, including a decline in suicide rates after its decriminalisation, as people with such tendencies have been able to access medical help.

Thus at the World Health Assembly in 2019, all health ministers agreed that decriminalising suicide was an effective way to reduce deaths by suicide when they approved the WHO Mental Health Action Plan for 2021-2030.

This is why the Daily Graphic welcomes the bold decision by Parliament to amend the Criminal Offences Act after years of advocacy by the major stakeholders, especially mental health professionals in Ghana.

With attempted suicide no longer a criminal offence, it is the expectation that people who are battling mental health conditions will be encouraged to seek the right medical help and also receive the necessary support from close relations and friends.

More so, it will help reduce the stigma, as suicide survivors and their families eventually become victims of stigmatisation, and with the right interventions and help, the country can achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2015-2030.

The Daily Graphic commends the Psychiatric Association of Ghana (PAG) for its relentless effort at leading a sustained campaign for suicide to be decriminalised and, indeed, all other stakeholders who supported the campaign.

With the new dawn here, the Daily Graphic would also like to call on the health authorities to provide an efficient health delivery system for mental health and make it more accessible to encourage people to seek the required help they need.