AMPATI:
In order to discuss the issue of rising suicide cases and teenage pregnancies in South West Garo Hills district, the stakeholders of the district including religious leaders, NGOs, community leaders, district officials, police and officials of the medical fraternity, met on Monday at a workshop in Ampati to develop strategies and interventions to reduce the problem.
The day-long workshop themed “Break the Silence, Fill the Gap” was organised in a collaborative approach by the District Health Society under National Health Mission at AFHC-cum-multi facility centre, Chengkompara, Ampati.
Delivering the keynote address, Deputy Commissioner in-charge, A V D Shira while sharing her experiences relating to these issues, said it was every stakeholder’s duty as parents and members of the community to find the root cause of the problem and check the menace, adding that this workshop will help introspect and see what contribution can be made to build a better and safer place.
Participating in the workshop, the district police chief, V. Kumar, in his address laid stress on the importance of mental health care, identifying the problem and proper support system for families dealing with the problem. While Chief Judicial Magistrate, District & Sessions Court, Ampati, N M Sangma highlighted various forms of sexual assault under POCSO Act and teenage pregnancy. She also shared her experiences having dealt with number of such cases.
One of the main resource persons at the workshop, B S Sangma, psychiatrist, Tura Civil Hospital, said that suicide is a serious public health issue and gave a detailed statistics of such cases in the state and the district in particular, the causes, warning signs, risk factors and protective factors to prevent it.
He also made his contributions to strategize and plan for reducing suicide and teen pregnancy in the district.
District Surveillance Officer-cum-Nodal Officer for Mental Health Programme, SWGH, L C K Sangma gave a detailed statistics of suicide cases registered in the district, while DCPO, T. Marak gave a brief presentation on the number of registered teenage pregnancy & their follow up action and interventions for teen pregnancies due to sexual assault.
Later, during the participatory session for developing the District Action Plan, numerous views and ideas were chipped in by participants including officials drawn from various departments, church leaders, NGOs and the police, facilitated by DMO, Lydia Marak , DMCHO Noreen Sangma, SDMHO, S Hajong among others.