By Adeola Badru, Ibadan
Notable social and media organisations, professional bodies, marketing communications firms including Suicide Is No Solution (SINS), are set to mark this year’s Suicide Prevention Day.
The event, which will hold via webinar, will also feature Asido Foundation, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Lagos Online Media Publishers Association (LASOMP), Spirit of Nigeria Radio, Life Radio, Jordan FM, Tall and Wide Company and Strycaz Consulting to commemorate the event.
In a statement made available to Vanguard on Wednesday, by the Project Director of Suicide Is No Solution, Toye Arulogun, the webinar with the theme: “Suicide Reporting: The Social Responsibility Imperative will hold on Friday, September 10, 2021, at 6:00 pm with the key objective of enlightening Nigerian media practitioners and the nation’s media space at large to the best practices of reporting this public mental issue.
According to Arulogun: “With Nigeria’s increasing an alarming rate of deaths by suicide which is ranked the highest in West Africa, 5th in Africa and 15th in the world according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), responsible media reportage of suicide incidents has become imperative.”
“This is because studies have shown that communication plays a very important role in societal behavioural patterns and trends while media reportage on mental health and suicide cases influence behaviour negatively by contributing to contagion, or positively by encouraging help-seeking.”
Speakers at the webinar are Prof. Moses Audu, Consultant Psychiatrist, Jos University Teaching Hospital; Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, Consultant Psychiatrist and Founder, ASIDO Foundation; Mr Odita Sunday, President, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria; Mrs Jadesola Ajibola, Chairperson, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists; Mr Folajaiye Kareem, Clinical Psychologists and Director of Interventions, ASIDO Foundation and Mr Lateef Owodunni, Publisher Gist Island News and Treasurer, Lagos Online Media Publishers Association.
The statement added that the webinar is expected to redirect narratives on suicide reporting in the Nigerian media space with a view to establishing a new regime of responsible suicide reporting devoid of sensationalism, depiction or description of suicide methods or sharing the content of suicide notes.
Vanguard News Nigeria
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