Nigeria moves to decriminalize attempted suicide with mental health law amendment

Nigeria's Federal Executive Council has approved a significant amendment to the National Mental Health Act, aiming to decriminalize attempted suicide. This move is a crucial step towards addressing the public health crisis of suicide in the country, which claims over 7,000 lives annually and sees an estimated 300,000 attempts.

The reform targets a reduction of suicide deaths and attempts by 15% by 2030. Currently, attempted suicide is criminalized under colonial-era laws, treating individuals experiencing psychological distress as offenders rather than patients in need of care. This legal framework discourages help-seeking and contradicts the National Mental Health Act of 2021, which advocates for supportive care.

Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, explained that the amendment reflects a fundamental shift in how the state views individuals who attempt suicide due to mental illness. "Attempting suicide is not a crime," Pate stated, likening it to punishing someone for having tuberculosis. The bill, developed with input from mental health advocates and the Ministry of Justice, will be transmitted to the National Assembly for enactment.

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Attempting suicide is not a crime. If someone, because of mental health illness, attempts to harm themselves within the context of those colonial-era laws, you can arrest them and prosecute them for breaking the law. But these are people that are actually ill. It’s like getting somebody who has tuberculosis and asking, ‘Why did you have tuberculosis?’ So it’s changing the paradigm to one whereby they require care and support.