Andhra Pradesh Adopts Multi-Pronged Strategy To Prevent Suicides
Teachers, ANMs, ASHA workers and other field-level health personnel are also being trained to identify signs of mental distress and suicidal tendency.
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to prevent suicides by providing awareness and counselling at educational institutions, hostels, old age homes and other places.
Announcing this, health minister Satya Kumar Yadav said on Wednesday that teachers, ANMs, ASHA workers and other field-level health personnel are also being trained to identify signs of mental distress and suicidal tendency so that timely protection and care can be provided. Those in need would be referred to health centers.
Marking World Suicide Prevention Day on Thursday, Yadav called upon families, educational institutions, health staff and others to participate in the government’s efforts to prevent suicides.
He said awareness programmes on suicide prevention were conducted in 463 schools and 308 colleges between 2023 and 2025, covering nearly 40,740 school students and 35,598 college students.
Direct counselling was provided to 17,308 students in 307 welfare hostels, while 3,086 teachers participated in the awareness drive to help identify mental distress and suicidal tendencies among students.
Referring to a pilot project on suicide prevention among students at IIIT Nuzvid, the minister said awareness and counselling had yielded good results, with no suicides reported from 2023 till date, compared with two cases in 2021 and four in 2022.
Yadav said Tele-MANAS was providing counselling to people experiencing mental health problems through the toll-free number 14416 and helping identify suicidal tendencies so as to provide healthcare.
Tele-MANAS received 523 calls in 2022, 18,000 in 2023, 20,000 in 2024, 17,000 in 2025 and 31,000 so far in 2026.
The health department would organise awareness programmes on Thursday, including formation of human chains and holding of awareness rallies.
