Moroccan City Launches Suicide Prevention Campaign Amid Rising Concerns

In Chefchaouen, civil society actors are more determined than ever to overcome suicide, a social phenomenon of which the region holds the record in the entire Kingdom.

Even more worrying is the scale the phenomenon has taken in recent years, which is causing concern. Initiatives are multiplying to try to curb it or, at least, to better apprehend it.

The Ben Mchich Association for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Chefchaouen, in particular, is making more than one mark with its interesting initiatives. According to Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, it is working to create a Suicide Studies Center and a toll-free number to circumscribe this phenomenon.

This number, open to actors, heads of public institutions and citizens, will make it possible to prevent cases of potentially suicidal people.

The causes and dimensions of the phenomenon are intertwined in this otherwise calm and cheerful city, which is experiencing an alarming increase in the suicide rate. In Chefchaouen, indeed, the figures on suicide are alarming and testify to the urgency of action.

As proof, the period from January to March 2019 alone recorded 12 cases. This means that the city records four suicide cases per month with an average of one suicide per week, notes the same media.

This could eventually lead to the opening of a hospital where people who have attempted suicide will be treated, in order to ensure both prevention and treatment of this scourge.

In 2012, according to the WHO, Morocco recorded 1,628 suicide cases, ranking it second in the Arab world in terms of suicide rates.