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Abstract
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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), Government of India, released National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) very recently, a step long awaited and welcomed by all stakeholders.1 The strategy aims to (a) Reinforce leadership, partnerships, and institutional capacity in the country, (b) Enhance the capacity of health services to provide suicide prevention services, (c) Develop community resilience and societal support for suicide prevention and reduce the stigma associated with suicidal behaviors, and (d) Strengthen surveillance and evidence generation. In addition, the strategy emphasizes the need for a multi-sectoral approach and delineates multiple interventions to be carried out by different stakeholders.2
One of the primary strategies, and rightly so, of NSPS is to deal with substance use in our country. Substance use is one of the common risk factors for completed suicide in India. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data attributes around 6% of suicide to substance abuse. Along with this, many other common reasons, such as family problems, marriage-related issues, and bankruptcy/indebtedness, are also directly or indirectly related to substance use. As per the recent national drug use survey 2019, alcohol use is reported by almost 15% of our general population. The use of drugs like opioids and cannabis is also highly prevalent. The data from the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2016 and National Family Health Survey reiterate the same. Thus, there is a major problem of substance use in India. All substances, including alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and misuse of prescription drugs, are associated with suicide risk. The strategy also documents that it is not just dependence on substances--all aspects of substance use, harmful use, abuse, and intoxication have been associated with suicide.
Suicide prevention strategies need to incorporate both individual- and population-level strategies. The NSPS document has laid out the plan for policy-level addressing of underlying psychosocial issues such as addictive disorders. The strategy emphasizes the need for formulating national policy for alcohol use, community-level drug use prevention programs, and prohibition of alcohol advertisement. ...
Language: en |