Citation

Kim H, Kwon SW, Ahn YM, Jeon HJ, Park S, Hong JP. J. Public Health Policy 2019; 40(1): 91-102.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea. suhurhong@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group -- Palgrave-Macmillan)

DOI

10.1057/s41271-018-0152-x

PMID

30478435

Abstract

For more than 10 years, the suicide rate in South Korea has been the highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Suicide-prevention strategies, such as restricting access to lethal suicide methods, have been implemented in Korea. In this paper, we discuss suicide-prevention strategies that restrict access to the five leading methods for committing suicide: pesticide ingestion, inhalation of charcoal fumes, jumping from heights, placing oneself in front of moving subway trains, and hanging oneself by the neck. Of the five suicide-prevention strategies outlined in our study, prohibition of the herbicide paraquat and installation of screen doors were proven to be effective, while others need further assessments. Yet, the overall decline in suicide rate from 31.7 per 100,000 people in 2011 to 27.3 per 100,000 people in 2014 suggests that these suicide-prevention strategies have successfully decreased the suicide rate in Korea.

Language: en

Keywords

Herbicide; Method restriction; Prevention; Suicide