Number of cases involving people taking their own lives in Burundi and Kenya seems to be more than those reported in the other four East African Community Member states.
The Suicide rate in Burundi stands at 6.2 according to the World Health Organization. This small East African Country ranks third on the continent, after Lesotho and South Africa.
Lesotho is essentially an enclave of South Africa, which means the Southern Parts of the continent suffer more suicide cases than the rest of Africa.
Suicide rates are calculated from number of suicides per 100,000 people.
Kenya’s Suicide rate therefore clocks at 6.1; Rwanda reads 5.6; Uganda comes fourth with 4.6, while Tanzania tags in the EAC region with just 4.3 suicide rate.
We are yet to get the suicide figures for the troubled South Sudan.
Despite having the lowest figure, the number of people who take their own lives on daily basis in Tanzania, still exceeds eight.
As the World Health Organization marks World Suicide Prevention Day, it has been noted that 3000 people commit suicide in Tanzania every year.
In Africa, Lesotho Tops the bill, with the country’s suicide rate hitting the ceiling at 72.4, followed by South Africa with 23.5 and Burundi (6.2).
- Over one million people die by suicide worldwide each year.
- The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 population.
- On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world.
- 1.8 percent of worldwide deaths are suicides.
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