Suicidal behaviour across the African continent: a review of the literature

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Incidence of suicide in African countries with published data identified by our systematic search of the literature

Country and source publication	WHO mortality stratum	Study population	Year	Mean annual suicide rates per 100,000 population	Sex ratio
Country and source publication	WHO mortality stratum	Study population	Year	Mean annual suicide rates per 100,000 population	Male: female
Cameroon
Keugoung et al. [12]	D	Guidiguis health district	1999-2008	3.2^a	3.7:1
Egypt
Abdel Moneim et al. [13]	D	Assiut province	2005-2009	0.7^b	1.4:1
Ghana
Adinkrah [14]	D	National-level data	2006-2008	0.4^c	21.1:1
Mauritius
WHO [8]	D	National-level data	2008	6.8	6.0:1
Nigeria
Nwosu & Odesanmi [15]	D	Ile-Ife	1979-1988	0.4	3.6:1
Senegal
Guyavarch et al. [16]	D	Bandafassi, Niakhar and Mlomp	1985-2004	3.7	2.5:1
Seychelles
WHO [8]	D	National-level data	2008	4.6	Males: 100%
Ethiopia
Bekry [17]	E	Addis Ababa	1981/82-1995/96	7.8^d	5.2:1
Kenya
Ziraba et al. [18]	E	Viwandani and Korogocho slums in Nairobi City	2003-2005	3.3	Not specified
Malawi
Dzamalala et al. [19]	E	Blantyre district	2000-2003	2.6	3.4:1
Mozambique
Nizamo et al. [20]	E	Maputo City	2000	4.7	Not specified
Namibia
Ikealumba & Couper [21]	E	Rehoboth	2001	2.3	Not specified
South Africa
Burrows et al. [22]	E	Johannesburg, eThekwini, Cape Town, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City	2001-2003	17.2	4.5:1
Uganda
Kinyanda et al. [23]	E	Kampala city	1975-2004	1.0	3.4:1
Un. Rep. Tanzania
Mgaya et al. [24]	E	Dar es Salaam region	2005	2.3	2.8:1
Zimbabwe
WHO [8]	E	National-level data	1990	7.9	2.0:1

^aaverage rate, range of annual rates 0.9-6.5 per 100,000; ^baverage rate, range of annual rates 0.6-0.8 per 100 000; ^caverage rate, range of annual rates 0.2-0.4 per 100,000; ^daverage rate, range of annual rates 3.3-11.7 per 100,000.
WHO: World Health Organization; data is presented for the most recent year available.
WHO mortality stratum D: high child mortality and high adult mortality; WHO mortality stratum E: high child mortality and very high adult mortality.
Five countries have additional publications available: South Africa [25–28], KwaZulu-Natal province, Transkei region, Pretoria and Bloemfontein city estimates range from 10.9 to 32.5 (average rate) per 100,000; Egypt [29], Port Said city average rate 2.2 per 100,000; Senegal [30], Dakar region 0.7 per 100,000; Uganda [31], Northern Uganda average rate 15.8 per 100,000; United Republic of Tanzania [32], Dar es Salaam 3.2 per 100,000.
South Africa and Egypt also have data available from mortality statistics they report to WHO [8].
Population estimated for the Dakar region, Senegal [30]. Source: National Agency of Statistics and Demography, Government of Senegal [9].

ISSN: 1471-2458