The spokeswoman for VOX in Benalmádena, Gema Carrillo, has registered a motion in the Consistory to create and execute a program in the municipality to prevent suicides, injuries, autolytics and care for people who have tried to end their lives. “In2021, seven people committed suicide in Benalmádena,” lamented Carrillo, who underlined that suicide “has become the main cause of unnatural death in Malaga and Spain.”
According to this political party, the Covid 19 pandemic has caused suicides to “shoot up” worldwide and, in the face of this situation, “the term silent pandemic has even been accepted to refer to suicide.”
Likewise,Carrillo has been very concerned about the increase in attempts by those adolescents who have tried to end their lives since “it shows an alarming rise.” And it is that, according to data from the Official College of Psychology of Madrid, in 2020, there was an increase in attempted suicide of 250% among young people. Based on the data, the mayor of VOX highlights that “it is necessary to take the necessary actions for the creation of a National Suicide Prevention Plan”.
In this way, among the points of the motion presented, VOX has asked the City Council for a plan to provide the appropriate resources– expert groups specialized in mental health, for example – and thatpeople with suicide attempts have the necessary support. Also, said motion intends togive visibility to this problem through different means of communication, website of the Consistory or commemorative acts and actions. They propose that this municipal plan be developed in collaboration with Afesol together with the involvement, in a transversal way, of the necessary departments (Social Services, Citizen Security and Health). Similarly, VOX has also requested that Benalmádena be declared a “city committed to suicide prevention and care for people who suffer from suicidal ideation”.
Prevention in schools
Likewise, from VOX they will request that the City Council, through the Department of Education and in collaboration with associations and groups of experts specialized in mental health and suicide prevention, such as Afesol, “propose a program, aimed at the students of the educational centers of the municipality, to the teachers and families, to help preventionof self-injury and suicide”.
