14 Sep 2015

Cooks calls for vigilance on World Suicide Prevention Day

1:34 pm on 14 September 2015

Cook Islanders marked World Suicide Prevention Day last week with a call for individuals and organisations to heed the warning signs.

The Cook Islands has an average number of two suicides a year, most which involve people between the ages of 15 and 24.

Te Kainga director, Mereana Taikoko, says suicide is rarely a spur-of-the-moment decision and in the days and hours before people take their lives, there are usually clues and warning signs.

She says when someone talks about suicide it is a cry for help and not a wish to die.

World Suicide Prevention Day is an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organisation.

To raise awareness on mental illness and suicide in the Cook Islands, Te Kainga and the Health Department teamed up to air a series of documentaries on Cook Islands Television.