India stopped counting suicides 3 years ago — now, it’s the worst in all of South East Asia

• On the heels of the World Mental Health Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is focussing on suicide prevention.
  
• India recorded the highest suicide rate in the South-East region in 2016, shows a new study by World Health Organisation (WHO).
  
• The suicide rate in India stood at 16.5% per 100,000 people — six percentage points higher than the global average of 10.5%.
  
• However, the Indian government has not published any statistics over the last three years, so as to implement WHO guidelines and strategies for suicide prevention.
  
• The female suicide rate was also the highest in India at 14.5%, as compared to other south-eastern countries.

The suicide rate estimates in the report has ranked countries on a scale of five — and India was termed as “unusable or unavailable” and scored four out of five. Ahead of the World Mental Health Day on October 10, a World Health Organisation (WHO) study has shown that India recorded the highest suicide rate in the South-East region in 2016.

However, India no longer publishes any data statistics on suicide attempts at the national level. And so, it can’t implement the WHO guidelines and strategies for suicide prevention, Indiaspend noted.

Suicide is the second highest cause of unnatural dealths among youngsters and every 40 seconds, a person commits suicide. According to WHO, every person who dies by suicide leads to more than 20 people trying to attempt it.

According to the study, the suicide rate in India stood at 16.5% per 100,000 people — six percentage points higher than the global average of 10.5%. In fact, the suicide rate among females was also the highest in India at 14.5%, as compared to other south-eastern countries.

While it stands third among those countries that see the highest number of male suicides, after Sri Lanka and Thailand at 23.3% and 21.4% respectively.

In 2014, the international agency proposed a suide-prevention model focussing on four areas — surveillance, identification of risks and protective factors, development & evaluation of interventions and implementation. But, to implement these, India needs data.

See also:
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