• Health

Suicide: Namibia's silent crisis

• 9 Hours Ago - 2025-08-05 11:06:00

It knows no gender, race, age or class.
Whether someone lives in a shack in an informal settlement with little or no income and food, or in a spacious home in an affluent suburb with a salary that covers two cars in the garage – suicide does not discriminate.
Namibia has long topped the list of African countries with the highest suicide rate – 9.7 per 100 000 people. Globally, the country ranks fourth. But that figure is outdated, and experts fear the real situation may be far worse.
Between January and March this year alone, 124 people took their own lives. Of these, 108 were men – husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. Most cases were reported in the central northern regions, with Omusati, Kavango East and others following closely. In 2023, 542 suicides were recorded – 449 men, 80 women, and 13 children. The victims ranged from a five-year-old child to a 103-year-old.
And these are just the confirmed cases. For every life lost, many more tried. In the 2023/24 financial year, around 3 000 Namibians attempted suicide and there is no clear data on whether they received help or became part of the statistics later on.
'Keeps me awake'
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah admits that the crisis keeps her awake at night. Meanwhile, health minister Dr Esperance Luvindao has voiced deep frustration over delays in finalising Namibia’s long-awaited mental health law.
The numbers are staggering. In the past financial year, 102 900 mental health cases were recorded at state facilities, and that’s only from the two state-run psychiatric units in Windhoek and Oshakati.
Oshakati’s 80-bed unit regularly houses over 200 patients. The outpatient department sees at least 100 people a day, with just one psychiatrist available. These two units serve patients from four regions – Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati and Ohangwena – with grossly inadequate staff.
Windhoek Central Hospital, the national referral centre, has 124 beds for mental health cases. Overcrowding is so severe that patients are often discharged early to make space for new admissions. The forensic unit has 84 beds and an outpatient clinic operating just three days a week, assisting at least 45 patients per day.
Failing system
Outreach clinics outside Windhoek run weekdays only, serving around 20 patients a day. But weekend care is non-existent. And all of these services rely on just two psychiatrists, two psychologists, and three medical officers.
According to ministry protocols, patients outside the capital should receive emergency support at their nearest clinic for 72 hours. If they don't improve, they’re referred to a psychiatrist, if one is available. Yet the ministry admits that many frontline staff don’t have the training to recognise or refer serious cases.
“This delay is literally costing lives,” Luvindao warned. In 2024/25, the ministry recorded 91 500 consultations and admitted 11 400 mental health patients. “Can it really take ten years to finalise one bill?” she asked, adding that bureaucratic delays serve no one.
Workshops and awareness campaigns alone are not enough, she said. Real progress needs proper laws, funding, infrastructure and accessible treatment.
She also pointed to the Windhoek District Hospital, which has no dedicated space for counselling or urgent psychiatric care. “The message,” she said, “is we don’t care.”
“Every suicide is the system failing, along with our collective humanity,” she said.
Luvindao, who has openly shared that she sought help for anxiety while studying, stressed that burnout and depression are not part of anyone’s job description. It’s not enough to say mental health matters – it must be reflected in the national budget.
In just three days, nine lives were lost. That’s three families a day left broken and searching for answers.
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