AZORES | Mónica Seidi chaired opening of “Suicide without Taboos” seminar

The Regional Secretary for Health and Sport, Mónica Seidi, chaired the opening session of the “Suicide Without Taboos” seminar organised by the São Miguel Island Health Unit through its Mental Health Team.

This was an initiative that involved “organisation, hard work and, above all, courage.”

“The theme of this seminar clearly addresses one of the main issues linked to suicide: the taboo,” she emphasised.

Mónica Seidi revealed that the latest 2021 figures from INE – National Statistics Institute show that the suicide rate in the Autonomous Region of the Azores is higher than in Mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira. These figures cannot be dissociated from alcohol and drug abuse.

In the fight against these drugs, the Regional Government has set up a task force that is working in partnership with ISSA – Institute for Social Security of the Azores “not only on the social and economic profiling but also on the clinical profiling of a group of street drug users,” said the Regional Secretary.

Mónica Seidi also pointed out the Government’s commitment to reinforcing “street teams,” through a partnership with an institution headquartered on the island of São Miguel.

“Initially, it was only planned for the municipality of Ponta Delgada but we have decided to move forward with this reinforcement in Ribeira Grande as well. These teams are on the ground regularly” and are staffed by professionals specialised in this type of care. They now also include a psychiatrist, who will identify early risk situations by being able to contact these patients directly and learning about their immediate needs,” stressed the government official.  

Mónica Seidi also stressed that the presence of a psychiatrist on site will speed up the diagnosis and management of each case.

Therefore, the Regional Government, harnessing the knowledge of the partner institution that was already doing this work with a team in Ponta Delgada, replicated the model in the city of Ribeira Grande. This was one of the measures listed by the Regional Secretary during the first of the two-day seminar, which continues today at the Teatro Micaelense, featuring a diverse panel of speakers, moderators and guests. The event is also attended by an audience mostly linked to health, particularly mental health, as well as by security forces and various institutions.

The Regional Secretary responsible for Health also conveyed her desire to continue to increase human resources, given that the ratio of psychiatrists is still below the desired level, noting that “the waiting time for a first psychiatric consultation often exceeds the desired time.”

The fight against these two major problems “is urgent, insofar as good and rapid access to mental health care will be an asset in tackling this issue, which is of great concern to us,” she said.