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Tackling suicide rates in the developing world
December 19, 2003Differing patterns in suicides rates worldwide are highlighted in the December issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE), edited in the Department of Social Medicine at the University of Bristol, and published today.
The World Health Organisation estimates that there are around 849,000 suicides worldwide each year. David Gunnell, Professor of Epidemiology at Bristol University and his co-author Dr Michael Eddleston of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka point out that there are very different patterns of fatal and non-fatal self-harm in industrialised compared to developing countries.
In countries such as the UK, the drugs that people most commonly overdose with are prescription medications and analgesics, and fatality is relatively low. However, in developing countries it is far more common to use agricultural pesticides for deliberate self-poisoning - as many as one out of every ten people who ingest these pesticides die as a result. It is estimated that there may be up to 300,000 pesticide suicides each year in the China and South East Asia region alone.
In developing countries where a large proportion of the population are subsistence farmers, many people have access to pesticides and these are often stored in the home. Studies have shown that suicidal impulses are often short lived and that by making the means of suicide less available, time can be 'bought' until the suicidal impulse passes. For these reasons, the detoxification of the domestic gas supply in Britain in the 1960s was thought to have prevented several thousand suicides. Recent restrictions on the availability of paracetamol follow the same logic.
Professor Gunnell and Dr Eddleston suggest a range of ways that pesticide suicides in developing countries can be reduced, including better hospital management, restricting availability, licensing, storage guidelines and improving public education. However, there has been limited action on the part of international organizations. Pesticides are a multi-billion dollar business.
Professor Gunnell said: "There has been limited global leadership concerning this issue. International organizations, governments and industry all contribute to allowing the impact of pesticide ingestion on suicide mortality to persist."
Bristol, University of
In developing countries where a large proportion of the population are subsistence farmers, many people have access to pesticides and these are often stored in the home. Studies have shown that suicidal impulses are often short lived and that by making the means of suicide less available, time can be 'bought' until the suicidal impulse passes. For these reasons, the detoxification of the domestic gas supply in Britain in the 1960s was thought to have prevented several thousand suicides. Recent restrictions on the availability of paracetamol follow the same logic.
Professor Gunnell and Dr Eddleston suggest a range of ways that pesticide suicides in developing countries can be reduced, including better hospital management, restricting availability, licensing, storage guidelines and improving public education. However, there has been limited action on the part of international organizations. Pesticides are a multi-billion dollar business.
Professor Gunnell said: "There has been limited global leadership concerning this issue. International organizations, governments and industry all contribute to allowing the impact of pesticide ingestion on suicide mortality to persist."
Bristol, University of
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