South Africa has the third highest suicide rate in Africa. (PeopleImages/Getty Images) South Africa has the third highest suicide rate in Africa and Africa has higher rates of suicide than any other continent. In the wake of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, clinical psychologist Vincenzo Sinisi asks what can be done to bring down suicide rates.
Africa is currently the region with the highest suicide rate worldwide , according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is driven by a combination of factors, including poverty, unemployment, and untreated mental health issues. South Africa, with a suicide rate of 23.
5 per 100 000 people, ranks third worst on the continent. South Africa is closely followed by Lesotho and Eswatini - countries where limited access to mental health services exacerbates the issue—age and gender impact suicide risk. In South Africa, for instance, suicide has been rated as the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24, reflecting the devastating mental health toll on young people.
The gender disparity is stark - men are four to five times more likely to die by suicide than women. However, women tend to report twice as many suicide attempts as men, indicating a significant gap in prevention efforts targeting both genders. Why is it happening? While suicide is a global challenge, it manifests differently across Africa due to a variety of factors - these include economic hardship, mental health stigma, and the scarcity of.
