SHILLONG, SEPT 10: With increasing suicide cases becoming a disturbing trend in today’s world there is an urgent need to identify or rather include the “suicide prevention” under the ambit of the ‘health policy’ of the government, medical experts suggested on Tuesday.
“The government should include the ‘suicide prevention’ under the purview of the health policy,” noted city psychiatrist Dr S Syiem said. According to him, since suicide is a disease and relates to mental illness, the government has neglected this by allotting only 2 per cent for mental health out of the total amount earmark for health budget.
Syiem was giving a presentation at the World Suicide Prevention Day organized by the SANKER hospital in the city on Tuesday. He said, “Recent estimates suggest that the disease burden caused by mental illness will account for 25 per cent of the total disease burden in the world in the next two decades, making it the most important category of ill-health – more important than cancer or heart disease.”
“If you talk about mental illness, if you cannot get away, it will be the main causes of disability,” Dr Syiem asserted.
Dr Syiem further informed that even the ambitious Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) introduced by the Meghalaya government has failed to cover this important mental health aspect.“Mental health is being neglected even by the state government,” he said while informing that a proposal was already submitted to the government and awaiting for the reply.
Dr Syiem said, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – suicide is a huge but largely preventable public health problem, causing almost all violent deaths and resulting in almost one million fatalities every year, as well as economic costs in billions of dollars.
Stating that estimates suggest fatalities could rise to 1.5 million by 2020,” Syiem informed the estimated number of suicides in India in 2010 was about 187, 000. “In the last two decades, the suicide rate has increased from 7.9 to 10. 3 per 100, 000. There is a wide variation in the suicide rates within the country,” he added.
Syiem further stated that 37.8 per cent of suicides in India are by those below the age of 30 years, 71 per cent – 44 years while pointing out that 36.6 per cent committed suicide by poisoning, 32.1 per cent by hanging and 7.9 per cent by self-immolation. “Studies conducted in rural Tamil Nadu reveals that the annual suicide rate is six to nine times the official rate,” he informed.
In Meghalaya which is also showing an upward trend in suicide cases, during 2008 and 2009, suicide cases reported were 85 and 112 respectively, he said, “As per study conducted, most of these cases are committed by students, unemployed people and housewives.” 80 per cent of the suicide cases in the state were for unknown reasons.
Dr Syiem however said, “4.7 per cent of such cases is due to mental disorder and 44 per cent is due to family problems,” adding “There has been an increased by 45 per cent in suicide cases from 1975 to 2005.”
Believing that suicide is 100 per cent preventable, Dr Syiem said, “The need of the hour is to identity suicide prevention as public health policy, just as we think in terms of Malaria or Polio eradication.”
Suggesting other few measures to combat suicide, Dr Syiem said, “There is also a need to reduce social isolation, preventing social disintegration and treating mental disorders.” –By Our Reporter
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