OUR CORRESPONDENT
Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning (PILL), in collaboration with different institutes, organized multicentre suicide prevention awareness programs to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2022. The PILL Head Office in Karachi arranged a vast level community awareness program whereas the Rawalpindi centre arranged the event in collaboration with Shifa Tameer e Millat University to raise awareness within the student population.
To raise awareness amongst health professionals, the PILL Multan centre arranged a seminar at National Psychiatric Hospital Multan whereas the Peshawar centre collaborated with the Provincial Health Service office. PILL also raised awareness among ethnic minorities and arranged a suicide prevention seminar with refugees at the Quetta centre whereas Sir Nevand Ram Tuition Centre Hyderabad joined hands with PILL to raise awareness within minority ethnic groups.
The participants were invited through WhatsApp, email, face-to-face interaction and word-of-mouth across all cities. Over 500 participants attended the event at the Rawalpindi centre, 90 participants attended the event in Karachi, 50 in Multan, 25 in Hyderabad, and 42 participated in Peshawar. The event aimed to raise awareness about factors leading to suicide and self-harm and how it could be prevented. Prof. Nasim Chaudhry, Prof. Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Prof. Fareed Minhas, Prof. Tahir Khalily, Prof. Waqas Khan Prof. Abdul Sattar and Ms.Amna Noureen expressed their thoughts about taking steps towards understanding and preventing suicidal risk. Moreover, PILL team members, i.e., Komal Akram, Zahra Nigah, Hifza Malik, Faster Gill, Sehrish Irshad, Zaib-un-Nisa, Raees Ahmed; Kainat Farooqi, Sanaullah, Umair Ahsan, Mian Atiq,Ghulam Qadir and Farah Khoso talked about the increasing risk of suicide in youth, its causes and management. All the psychological, religious, and cultural perspectives related to suicide were also discussed. A Poster Competition was held at the Karachi centre to encourage youth participation in mental health related activities and winners were awarded prizes after the event. The participants’ feedback was optimistic and encouraging for future events. The participants reported that they learned a great deal and had an opportunity to enhance their knowledge about mental health problems and their prevention.