Citation

Snowdon J. Indian J. Med. Res. 2019; 150(4): 315-320.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Indian Council of Medical Research)

DOI

10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1367_19

PMID

31823911

Abstract

India is a vast country with a population of 1.37 billion. China has 1.42 billion. Together their populations add to nearly 40 per cent of people alive today. If we accept the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates of suicide rates in the 194 Member States (based on data provided by those countries but adjusted, depending on 'usability' of the data), India and China account for 40 per cent or more of the 800,000 annual suicide deaths globally[1]. Southeast Asia has been referred to as the frontline for delivering on the aspirational Sustainable Development Goal of a one-third reduction in the suicide death rate by 2030[2]. With 18 per cent of the world's population living in India, 'addressing suicides in India is imperative to making a global difference in the burden of suicides'[3].

There is good reason to examine Indian suicide data, partly because of the importance of what the findings might mean when compared to data from other countries and cultures. What do the findings show in relation to the causation of suicide, and thus to preventative strategies? Ongoing attention to such data (including differences in rates and patterns between genders, across the age-range, between sub-populations and over time) may be of key importance in understanding suicidal intentions and planning interventions aimed at averting suicide.

The WHO states that about one-third of its Member States provide high-quality suicide data. It will be important to examine the accuracy and reliability of suicide data from India and China in particular since the results from these mega-nations will strongly affect conclusions about global suicide rates and factors that influence them. Improvements in the way China's suicides are identified and recorded have resulted in increased accuracy, though data are still unavailable from more than half the regions of the country[4]. There is evidence of a reduction in suicide rates in China, across the age range, in recent years, prompting questions about why ...

Language: en