Cabinet Secretary Creative Economy, Youth Affairs and Sports Salim Mvurya.

📋 Breaking It Down

Kenya does not know exactly how many of her citizens die by suicide each year.

On Wednesday, Youth Affairs CS Salim Mvurya appeared before the Senate in Kilifi and said that available government data shows that between 400 and 500 Kenyans die by suicide each year.

Mr Mvurya, however, gave a disclaimer that those numbers are an underrepresentation of the true picture, as there is no robust data collection system.

📌 What You Need to Know

A 2023 Ministry of Health policy brief estimated that four people die by suicide each day, which would mean that the numbers could be nearly three times those presented by Mr Mvurya to the Senate.

The Youth Affairs CS said that his ministry is in the process of setting up a national registry to capture numbers more accurately, a first step in addressing a growing mental health crisis in Kenya that has seen deaths by suicide balloon over the years.

Mr Mvurya told senators that historically, suicide and self-harm are underreported in Kenya due to deep-rooted socio-cultural stigma.

Cabinet Secretary Creative Economy, Youth Affairs and Sports Salim Mvurya.

Further, data on a citizen's mental health assessment, psychiatric diagnosis, substance use treatment or suicidal behavior constitute highly protected personal data under data protection and confidentiality as provided for by the Data Protection Act, 2019.

The Health ministry’s 2023 policy paper showed that suicide deaths for men were five times higher than those for women.

📰 Source: Nation Africa