Advisor for Non-Communicable Diseases, Injuries, and Mental Health at the Africa CDC, Dr. Naeem Dalal has  pointed to cultural stereotypes as a factor contributing to the high rate of male suicides in Africa.

Dalal disclosed this during a session on Youth Mental Health in Africa at the International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) in Lusaka, Zambia, on Tuesday.

He highlighted how these stereotypes hinder African men from seeking emotional and mental support.

In his view, this is imperative due to statistics highlighting that a higher number of men in Africa die by suicide.

The CPHIA, held annually, is orchestrated by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and the 2023 installment is being hosted by the Government of Zambia.

The theme for CPHIA2023 is “Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture.”

Scheduled from November 27 to November 30, this annual event focuses on addressing health challenges and reshaping Africa’s position in the global health landscape.

Dalal, a Psychiatrist based in Lusaka, Zambia, specializes in youth mental health. He currently serves as the National Mental Health focal person and specialist for the Zambia National Public Health Institute.

He said: “There is more active suicide amongst men. When we talk about suicide, we need to understand two things. There’s suicide which is passive and suicide, which is active.

“Active suicide is where you die by suicide. Passive suicide is where you have thoughts of dying by killing yourself or harming yourself, but you don’t go ahead with those thoughts. So, that’s passive suicide.

“Now, when we talk about statistics specifically for men on the continent of Africa, more men die by suicide.

So, there’s more active suicide amongst men. For every 50 per cent of it, it is amongst the men that die and this is because men use more lethal with dying.”

Dalal underscored several reasons driving men to opt for suicide instead of seeking assistance for their mental health concerns.

“It’s also important to understand that men do not reach out for help for mental health concerns or issues that they face because of the culture that we have in Africa, where men are supposed to be supportive.

“Men are supposed to be responsible and breadwinners in communities. Showing that part of vulnerability is not something that is accepted in our communities across the African continent in general.

“And not just to stereotype it, but also to be factual that men are also taught not to be reaching out for help growing up as boys and boys are told to be strong and responsible.

“So, this also causes an issue for men to reach out for mental health services, even when they are there.

Dalal proposed several solutions aimed at decreasing the incidence of suicide across the continent.

“However, the solutions and the implementations that Africa CDC is currently carrying out is in the non-communicable diseases, injuries and mental health strategy.

“They have flagship programmes that are looking at mental health advocacy for communities, looking also at men’s health.

But in addition, there are also mental health fellowships that are coming up, where they will build capacity amongst healthcare workers to also seek mental health as a profession.

“This is because the other challenge is in Africa; healthcare workers do not want to do mental health speciality.

“These are the implementations that we are carrying out.

“We are also promoting more advocacy amongst the younger generation because the third leading cause of death by suicide is from the ages of 15 to 29.’’

According to Dalal, a lot of advocacy is ongoing, especially by the Africa CDC through the African Union.

“We are also advocating policy changes, where we make mental health applicable to the current realities that we are living,” he said.