Campaign to ‘de-normalize’ suicide: some recommendations from Nunavut inquest
Posted September 28, 2015 5:23 pm.
Last Updated September 29, 2015 3:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
IQALUIT, Nunavut – Suicide is a long-running tragedy in Nunavut, where people kill themselves at 13 1/2 times the rate of the Canadian average. Here are some of the recommendations to come out of an inquest into the suicides of two people from Nunavut.
— The territorial government should immediately declare suicide to be a public health emergency in Nunavut
— The government should create a minister responsible for suicide prevention
— A secretariat on suicide prevention should be created and given adequate resources. It should report to the minister
— A public awareness campaign should be created to “de-normalize” suicide
— Suicide prevention curriculum materials should be introduced in schools
— Community grief support networks should be created
— A followup protocol should be established for people who unsuccessfully attempt suicide
— All three regions of Nunavut should have substance abuse treatment centres
— All levels of government should provide adequate, multi-year funding for suicide prevention
— The territorial government should recommit to the goals of Nunavut’s 2010 suicide prevention strategy