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Combatting Suicide in Malawi: Inspiring Positive Innovation Launches Online Mental Health Platform
Between January and August of 2022, Malawi experienced a spike in suicidal cases, with men making up the majority of the victims.
Malawi: Approximately 703,000 people commit suicide each year, according to recently released reports by the World Health Organization (WHO), while millions of others experience severe and intense grief and are profoundly impacted by suicidal behaviours and thoughts, writes Sumeya Issa.
Mental health disorders and conditions are still heavily stigmatised in Africa.
Between January and August of 2022, Malawi experienced a spike in suicidal cases, with men making up the majority of the victims.
These figures continue to be a reliable indicator of the prevalence of mental illnesses and conditions around the world.
Inspiring Positive Innovation (IPI), a Blantyre-based organisation, is one that works to address mental health issues in Malawi.
A mental health and counselling platform called "Safe Space," which IPI launched as a pilot programme in December of last year, aims to address weighty issues like suicidal thoughts, gender-based violence (GBV), rape, sexual harassment, emotional abuse, and depression, among others.
He went on to say that the program's goal is to give people who are struggling with mental illness and emotional dysfunction a sense of community and emotional support.
However, the organisation acknowledges that there is still much work to be done before the current initiative on mental health has the lasting impact that is intended for the project.
Hope Chawala Banda, a mental health advocate, praises the initiative and explains how crucial it is for Malawi as a nation to plan for bolstering initiatives and efforts toward mental health.
An organisation called Inspiring Positive Innovation was founded in that year. The organisation also supports a number of other causes, including those related to education, youth and child development, intellectual property, innovation, and mindset shift.