The counter will continue to clamp down on immigration by miller sen. Fredrickson is hoping to be able to maintain her lead in the election by being the strongest Political Party of the country to be able to reach out to the centrist to form a coalition. But there are chances that the fog white can gain more the bantam in the selection, upsetting the plans that the Prime Minister is hoping to implement for the country. Ah hello again. The headlines on al jazeera, russia says its unacceptable for ships carrying grain to pass through a black sea corridor, and i wont guarantee the safety of the vessels. Moscow has suspended participation in a deal brokered by turkey and the un. It allowed ships to transport grain from ukraines ports. Ross as president Vladimir Putin has warned that he can do more after a series of missile and drone attacks, the ukraine. The airstrikes hit Critical Infrastructure and the sid intensity is leaving many people without power and running water. He was President Joe Biden has told Oil Companies to lower fuel prices for americans or face a higher tax rate. Biden says, many Oil Companies have been profiteering from the war in ukraine. South koreas president in his cabinet members have paid their respects at one of the memorials to victims if a crowd crushing soul an investigation has been opened after at least a 156. 00 people were killed during a halloween festival. Visitor as to chang highs, disney lands have been trapped inside. Unable to leave until they show a negative coven 19 test. The resort announced that would close immediately. Shanghai reported 10 locally transmitted cases on saturday. Search and rescue teams in the philippines are still looking for bodies. After a Tropical Storm naggie, at least a 110. 00 people died. Dozens are missing more than 800000 or displaced. 9 people had been arrested in connection with the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in western india. At least a 141 people died, wendy structure came apart on sunday. Youre up to date with the headlines on al jazeera, well have more news coming up at the top of the hour, but up next, its the stream. Thanks for watching. Talk to al jazeera, we ask, do you believe that women of afghanistan was somehow abandoned by the International Community . We listen, we api issue the price for the war against terrorism. Whats going on in some money . We meet with global news makers. Im talk about the stories that matter on al jazeera. I welcome to the stream, im josh rushing, sitting and for me, okay. The World Health Organization is leading a Public Awareness campaign aimed at tackling high rates of death by suicide across africa. And its urgent governments across the continent to do more for people in crisis. So today we ask, why is there a Mental Health emergency in africa . Hey, look, if youre watching this on youtube, see that little box like right there. We have a live stream producer waiting, get your questions and comments to me so i can get him to our expert turned the show. So lets do this together and its really important show today i can use your help, but i want to warn you, were going to be talking about some sensitive issues that include Mental Health and death by suicide. Ah, joining us to discuss the Mental Health crisis across africa, avi way for non he is a senior officer at united for global Mental Health. She is in cape town, south africa, liska cosa, is founder at mind lab africa, Mental Health care nonprofit. She joins us from kampala, uganda, and from jose nigeria, we have ruth tilley kado. She is a journalist in a Mental Health advocate. Alright, avi way, id like to begin with you. And so youre sitting in south africa and yeah, 6 of the 10 countries in the world that had the highest suicide rates are in sub saharan africa. But read those countries are actually within the borders of south africa. So im just, i want to ask you whats going on there, whats happening with Mental Health in south africa . So yeah, as you said, we definitely have a Mental Health crisis in south africa. The biggest challenge is that we have a challenge of avoidance. We dont have the right policies, and theres still quite a lot of stigma when it comes to Mental Health challenges and Mental Health as a whole. And we have 23 suicide deaths in south africa every day. And then 460. 00 attempts of suicide deaths in south africa every single day. So at the moment it really is a crisis that were in and we dont have enough services as a country. Theres a 93 percent treatment gap. So it means that the number of people that need access to care and the people that receive care, im not enough. We dont have enough services. A Mental Health policy lapsed in 2020 and it has not yet been updated. Many of the Mental HealthService Workers a not trained enough to serve the people that are in their communities. And so that really leaves us in a space where we are constantly being reactive to the Mental Health crisis. And not necessarily being preventative towards positive Mental Health. Whether you one is trying to do this campaign. I want to bring her doctor joseph uh bora, whos the director for program management. That the who, heres what he has to say about this. Millions of people needing care do not have access to service use with encrypted conditions leading to staggering debussy, pearson social disability, Substance Abuse and even suicide ended and africa therapy come to john as the highest 3 top suicide globally. Iran 11 out of 100000 people, die by suicide every year. And isnt it bo, give global average of 9 a 100000 people . So liz is talking about the suicide rights there, and i to me, suicides in this issue are the canary in the coal mine. But theyre also kind of the tip of the iceberg of a Mental Health crisis. I dont know if we need to focus as much necessarily on suicide as why those numbers are so high and thats kind of the broader Mental Health crisis. Now youre in, you god, youre joining us in the middle of a power outage. Is that right in . In uganda, you got about a one, a 1000000 chat in the air of kampala. So you, i think we have a delay that thats okay. Ill be patient as my question, but in uganda you have a one and 1000000 chance of meeting a psychiatrist. Meaning for every 1000000 people that live there, you have one psychiatrist, but as long as youre in a power outage right now. How does the country, i guess, trias, what they need to address here . Do they address, getting you more steady electricity, or do they address . Getting more psychiatrist. I thank you for your question. You know, very tricky question, but of course would be to get more electricity rate. Weve not, but it to a point where we take Mental Health very, very seriously. Like that for population of 4546000000. 1 psychiatry. Yes. And its very disheartening. You know, we can go, we can blame all of our africa, Mental Health trying to do, we can say, or the lack of awareness. However, they are people on ground doing that, that work, right . Thats what we do. Thats what i really does rate, but we have, we have a policy that we havent access, right . So its not just enough to say it is nor when it or to blame it on stigma. But we need to ask ourselves at that particular question where, what are we doing to address it . What action are we taking to address the Mental Health crisis and ill tell you, feel free, we arent doing enough. Okay. Just if i me dont work. Im coming to you, im coming to you and youre here in my area. Actually want to set you up with a bit of a package from out to 0 reporter mohammed address. He did this, he was showing kind of children who have been in boca rom camps and theyre receiving this kind of psychological support after the camps, it was run this clip born and raised in brook where im kemps. These children are experiencing for the 1st time. What it means to be a child. Oh, theyre part of the 6000 victims and family members of both auto fighters who send it to nigerians to georgia forces in the past few months. After a few weeks of psychological support. Those helping them are surprised by the rapid trustful mission. They see you see a lot of them coming into desert space thinking very distress team can hungry. What alpha week of engagement. Oh, because me and give them a call 31 sometime, depending on how we see that one ability and all of that. So we offer the engagement, you see a lot of changes, you see them interacting before you see them taking leadership role to see them doing for martha. So ruth, watching this clip, it seems kind of promising. Actually it seems you, there are a lot of children who are getting the psychological support that they might need is that common in nigeria is that, is that the situation there where you are . Ok, thank you very much. Just thank you for having me on the show. So like lee said, well, also my jury at the challenge is not necessarily that we dont have the doctors or there was a lack of awareness. That challenge mostly is the fact that we have a silent culture. A culture where something just a couple you can talk about. And so whats in the video, you know, it is really hopeful, im excited to see because nigeria and know they know that you know this young people need this intervention. It will people who are just kidnapped by vocal her, or bandy, need these interventions because when they come back into the society, i tell you not the same people, not the same. People are all who come back into society and its difficult for them to acclimatize so they also need this Psychological Health intervention is such a way that you know, they can come back and be normal people because what they see in those bushes is know what normal people should go through and so yeah, there is a lot of intervention now. There is a lot about when thats the challenge is the idea of the silent cultural where, you know, we dont want to talk about mental issues. Nobody wants to identify as having mental issues. And i think youre hitting a chord for list here because and uganda the, the word suicide, right . I guess the word suicide itself is terrible. Yeah. And the act of it is actually get criminalized. I dont even understand how that plays out yet. To touch on the yes. So yes, suicide is criminalized. Its its, its an offense. Im and it never made sense to me because what do you do when someone dies from . So they say, you know, do you try and do, what do you charge them with . Its never made sense to me. And this is, i was actually one of the issues that were highlighted during while Suicide Prevention day last month. And so yes, there is still a lot of sticking around the web suicide. Its not easy to say speak about in public, i mean as a suicide. And so via, its a part of my story that i often omit when i am doing my work around awareness and advocacy work around around Mental Health. So we are, we are also living in sort of a, you know, silent culture. Its very taboo. Even from you know, a cultural perspective, if someone died from suicide, they dont receive a proper burial over the past year. I know people close to me that have died from suicide or, you know and loved ones of people close to me. And that has been that, that instant that has been the situation, right . So i still need, we have a very long way to go or go in terms of getting people to, or of addressing. And you know, understanding this over addressing the stigma around suicide and just i keep saying it is our inability to talk about suicide that in the longer and cause is more suicide rates are here. Are you tube audience . And let me tell you something. If you dont know much about the world, you 2 comments, its not a place where theres a lot of gratitude and positivity, but we actually are getting a lot of gratitude for talking about this today. So maybe people are tired of it being taboo and other let me throw a couple of comments, were actually getting on twitter and from you tube here. This is from someone in the real ship banassi tr viddy. They say the stigma surrounding Mental Illness in africa is so bad, is now become denial. Its easy to jump to conclusions such as witchcraft. People replace prescription with prayer, when things turn to work, they say gods will. He goes on to say, a priest, a pastor, a shake, a clan elder is more trusted than a medical doctor or psychiatrist, a patient refusing prescription from a doctor in favor of rituals. Pisses me off because its suicide. Bait this business in which integrity is obsolete. Sad individuals are unaware why he had a lot to say, but anyway, can you pick up on that . Oh yeah, definitely its. Its something that i think in every african culture, regardless of where you are, its the same thing. Culture and religion are embedded in african just put the everyday life of africans and with Mental Health. I think what exasperated the crisis apart from the silent culture is that immediately when people are showing signs off going into a depressive episode, or if they communicate even feeling suicidal. Immediately they are relegated to the background. They told that they need half an app. Im culturally, theyre told, i know in south africa its usually associated with an ancestral calling. Im so what people call over plaza and youre meant to go and go into initiation for trip being a traditional healer or if you need to go for prayer. So all these different elements of what it is in terms of african culture to be viewed as experiencing a Mental Illness. But again, theres also an opportunity, i think, with all of that theres always an opportunity. So now its coming back to how do we actually look at the different systems and societies were functioning in and actually develop programs that work. So integrating more Community Based services is something that i advocate for a lot of african societies because sitting across a psychiatrist or side how to just immediately the walls are app. Theres a level of guardedness, theres a level of holding back and, and already theres just so much have you sitting within a person. And i think if we bring in elements of community, because community is something that is so important to africans, that in actually when we integrate Mental Health services, its important for us to also remember what is culturally appropriate. What can work for people that are operating in the society and we can just add on the element of mental while b . No, we have oh, if i me good, were jumping. Ok. So hes a, you know, my great aunt actually committed suicide. So im married now, what if my husbands family knew that someone, him, i mean they had committed suicide. They would not talk to me with a long school. And that is amazing because i just got to know they like 3 years ago, i was talking to my mom. I dont know if you intend to tell me, you know, she just put it out there. And im like, what, what did you say . You know, she goes on tells me the story, but then no, im happy that you know, several years down the line we can see down and talk about this. So the people know that you want, if someone in your family has committed suicide or someone, you know, a lot, one has committed suicide. The stigmatizing sean has to stop. Because if we dont stop the stigma, evasion that people will not be willing to come over and talk about the Mental Health situation. You know, like you said, joshua alia there, read a lot. That leads to suicide. It will not last trauma, trauma will be, will dont go into depression. But here he will not lead to us trauma. We dont Pay Attention to re, someone stays, im from eyes and everyone laughed. And it like really traumatized on time because it was, you know, so these are some discussions that we need to talk about. More often. The sort of people knows that they need to get help when they are really mentally pressed over it. I wonder if we didnt do you a bit of a disservice by showing that clip from boca harass with the children because they represent a very extreme example. I think most people would agree might need some psychological help, but really the problems much more broad as much more ubiquitous. And its much more common than someone whos been something as extreme as growing up in a book or her arm camp. Right. I mean, its like we all deal with it. Right . Yes, we do. Absolutely. And i would say that in a geri air, for in la la as it it, we dont necessarily have to be in the book of her. Im come to feel the pressure. Because with everything going around, we feel like so many things are not work in. So we almost feel like everyone is sort of like india, you know, book or her. Im calm sort of way because we are so mentally pressure youre, youre trying to get just the littlest thing to work like does good Health Service care. You can afford that, you know, bored, non people can afford food. So that was a lot of pressure on people. So these are the things that, you know, cumulate into all of you know, so side and, you know, the bigger things that were talking about now. But theyre reese in nigeria, theyre really a lot of mental pressure. And like, you know, what, over it affects the men more than the women because most men dont like to talk about their mental issues. You know, well, rate, right. And why did you said that . Because we actually have a, we can come back. I know you had more to say there, but we have a video comment from someone in the stream community. They sent us into us. The name is e