Our special report in this edition is a focus on suicide in Sierra Leone.

Globally, suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents, with the highest burden of suicide occurring in Africa.
Despite this, little is known about the epidemiology of suicide among adolescents in West Africa.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Sierra Leone has a suicide rate of 9.7 per 100,000 people, which is higher than the sub-Saharan average.

This amounts to approximately 733 suicide cases annually.

Abdullahi Hassan reports.