Media Professionals benefit from training on suicide reporting

In a joint effort to enhance media reporting on suicide, UNICEF Guyana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and PAHO-WHO hosted a two-day training exercise with close to 20 media professionals in Guyana.

The training was facilitated by PAHO Consultants, Tanya Nicole Fernandes and Amiti Varma and Ministry of Health Psychologist, Kadija McClure. Among the topics discussed were Reporting on suicide and mental health, best practices for reporting on suicides cases, the mental health of journalists and media professionals, to name a few.

Dr. Timothy Morgan, Director of the Mental Health Unit, during the training, outlined a vision for mental health care within Guyana’s health sector growth. He announced plans to soon introduce a 3-digit suicide helpline, offering a lifeline for individuals in need of immediate assistance.

Meanwhile, media professionals touted the training successful and made calls for additional trainings to enhance their reporting on sensitive topics in the health field.

The training exercise comes as part of UNICEF, PAHO-WHO and the Ministry of Health’s joint Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children and Adolescents Programme.

In September 2023, the joint initiative was launched with an aim to address and break the inter-generational cycle of poor mental health and transform mental health outcomes in Guyana. 

This article was first published on UNICEF Guyana and Suriname's website.