The Ashanti Region is recording a concerning number of suicide attempts, with health authorities warning that the official figures may represent only a fraction of the actual situation. According to the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Fred Adomako Boateng, the region recorded 66 attempted suicides and three completed suicides during the first six months of 2025. He said the figures underscore the need for stronger surveillance, early intervention and community-based suicide prevention initiatives.
“These are the reported figures, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We have a lot that we cannot and have not recorded,” he said. Speaking to the media in Kumasi, Dr Adomako Boateng acknowledged that improved reporting following Ghana’s decriminalisation of attempted suicide in 2023 may have contributed to the increase in recorded cases. However, he said the rise also points to a broader public health concern.
“The increase may partly reflect improvement in reporting following Ghana’s decriminalisation of attempted suicide in 2023. But improved reporting does not explain everything. The evidence indicates that we are dealing with a genuine and serious public health challenge,” he said.
National data also highlights significant gaps in access to professional mental health support. The 2023 Ghana STEPS survey found that 3.8 per cent of adults aged 18 to 69 had considered attempting suicide within the preceding 12 months. However, only 9.1 per cent of those who had experienced such thoughts sought professional help.
Dr Adomako Boateng said the low level of help-seeking was a major concern. “It means that the majority of us who reach the point of considering suicide do not have access to professional support,” he said. He called for greater attention to the mental health challenges facing young people, citing academic pressure, unemployment, financial difficulties, relationship problems, family conflicts, substance use, social isolation, cyberbullying and pressures associated with social media as factors that can contribute to psychological distress.
He also called for cultural attitudes that discourage young men from expressing emotional difficulties to be addressed. “Our challenge is to create a society in which a person can say, ‘I am not coping,’ without being mocked, condemned or dismissed. It is not a weakness to say, ‘I need help,’” he said.
Dr Adomako Boateng urged parents, teachers, health professionals, religious and traditional leaders, and community leaders to learn to identify early warning signs and respond before situations escalate.
The Ghana Health Service has also stressed that suicide prevention cannot be left solely to psychiatric hospitals. It is advocating for stronger mental health services at the primary-care and community levels, including early identification, counselling, referral, treatment, follow-up and continuity of care.
Dr Adomako Boateng further called on health managers and frontline workers to strengthen the reporting and documentation of suicide-related incidents. “If suicide attempts are concealed, if families are afraid to report them, or if health facilities fail to document cases properly, we cannot accurately identify where the problem is greatest or where resources are most urgently required,” he said.
