Dear Editor,
The ruling regime’s ongoing indifference to the major problem of suicide continues to cost lives. Every time a life is needlessly lost in this manner, Guyanese are understandably upset, outraged and heartbroken, and we often lose sight of another problem: the economic and financial toll that results from suicide related issues. These costs affect everyone: the families involved, the communities, and indeed, the entire national economy. Financial statistics related to suicidal behaviour are not available in Guyana. We can however, use common sense to examine the issue and arrive at reasonable conclusions.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), suicidal behaviour has a dramatic impact on the workplace in human and financial terms. The cost to the wider economy is also recognised. When a person of working age attempts suicide, that individual immediately becomes economically non-productive; his employer must find and train a replacement, since he will be absent from work whether he dies or not. His family suffers because he can no longer contribute to the home. In fact, his family is burdened with expenses. If the victim dies the family must finance a wake, funeral and related travel and other costs. Even if he is fortunate to survive, the family must pay medical bills, and travel to and from hospital. For Guyanese, many living from paycheck to paycheck, these costs are significant. In any event, there are also costs to taxpayers: the police must get involved, social workers may need to intervene and the overburdened public healthcare system may have to accommodate and treat another patient for days or weeks. If the victim has children their prospects for an education will be affected. In fact, without a parent, a child could become delinquent, even criminal, thereby adding further financial burdens to society for years to come. The cost of suicide to a country’s economy is invariably huge. The US Centers For Disease Control estimates that the cost of a single successful suicide of a middle-aged working male is US$3,875. Based on this calculation, we can easily conclude that Guyana simply cannot afford the high rate of suicide being currently experienced.
Suicide is not limited to persons of working age; children also lose their lives in suicide related events. On January 12, 2012, Shankar Oottam, 12 years old, hanged himself in Corentyne, Berbice. On April 1, 2014, 13-year-old, Rishi Ramkissoon, took his life in Enmore. Can Guyana afford to lose young citizens even before they enter the workforce and become economically productive? On March 30, 2014, a 10-year-old boy survived a suicide attempt. In this case, as with many other survivors, taxpayers had to pay for his medical care and follow-up counselling.
There are cases too of children being killed by suicidal adults. Who can forget the events of March 27, 2014? A depressed and obviously mentally troubled Awena Rutherford allegedly poisoned her sixteen-month-old baby and two-year-old toddler with carbon tablets, before attempting to kill herself. The children, having died will never contribute to Guyana’s development. Instead, family members had to spend money for funerals. The troubled mother who survived, had to receive medical care at taxpayers’ expense, then face the justice system, again at a cost to the state. We also recall when, in that same month, Linus LaCruz killed his wife and four children by burning down his house with the victims locked inside. The injured LaCruz languished in a public hospital until he died two weeks later.
Editor, evidently, suicide is costing Guyana a huge amount of money. Our government always laments the lack of revenue, yet, inexplicably, the authorities continue to do nothing to end this scourge. The regime’s failure becomes even more stark when one considers that suicide is preventable; there are well documented symptoms and proven methods of prevention. All that is needed is the political will to act.
Editor, in early June the Leader of the Opposition, David Granger, proposed a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. He urged the ruling regime to view the problem as a public health concern. It is understood that the PPP/C regime may not be inclined to take advice from the opposition leader. However, Guyana simply does not have the resources to spend, being one of the world’s leaders in the number of suicides relative to population size. Therefore, the regime should consider swallowing its pride and taking some good advice for a change. After all, every attempted or completed suicide, is money down the drain.
Yours faithfully,
Mark DaCosta
