By James Gwati- A Chipinge-based grassroots and youth empowerment lobby organization, Platform for Youth and Community Development Trust has introduced a free counselling centre at Checheche growth point in Chipinge.

The organization’s director Claris Madhuku said this was a response to the alarming statistics of young people committing suicide in Chipenge.

He said as an organization; they saw it prudent to help the local community with this essential service so that they save lives.

Below is Madhuku’s statement on this development, which he issued with their World Suicide Prevention day message.

PYCD STATEMENT

This day which has been honoured yearly on the 10th of September since 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, is essential and the right prescription for suicide awareness raising.

This day typically stretches to the 10th of October, which is World Mental Health Day, providing an opportunity for governments and civil society organizations to proactively discuss and propose various measures to prevent people from dying by suicide.
According to World Health Day, more than 700 000 people die yearly from suicide.
Research has confirmed that 77 per cent of those dying of suicide four are found in low and middle-income countries. The theme for this year 2022 is, Creating Hope through Action!
PYCD believes that reducing suicide is a vital public health consideration that must be prioritized to prevent untimely death and serve the millions of people experiencing intense grief due to the loss of their loved ones who would have succumbed to suicide.
As a grassroots-based organization operating in the rural areas of Manicaland, PYCD has recorded an increasing number of suicide cases of at least one person every week since the outbreak of Covid -19 in 2020.
These are very alarming statistics that PYCD is dedicated to reducing.
In Chipinge, suicide is among the four topmost causes of mortality among young people below the age of 35 years.
The causes have been linked to socio-economic challenges, some associated with improper marriages and infidelity.
PYCD has also recorded the absence and lack of sustainable institutions that provide psycho-social support and mental health.
In addressing these identified challenges, PYCD has since responded by institutionalizing basic counselling at the PYCD Centre in Checheche through a Drop-In facility.
The public in and around Checheche in Chipinge, has had an opportunity to visit the PYCD Centre and receive counselling and coping strategies that are being offered daily by a team of experienced and certified community actors who are part of the PYCD structure.

Inserted by PYCD Information Department
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