Suicide rates have increased slightly over the past three years and an estimated 1.3 percent of Taiwanese older than 15 have considered suicide in the past year, the National Suicide Prevention Center said yesterday, urging people to help those showing signs of depression by convincing them to see a specialist.
Highlighting the theme of World Suicide Prevention Day today — “Working together to prevent suicide” — the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the center held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about suicide.
About 800,000 people worldwide die of suicide each year, the center’s director Lee Ming-been (李明濱) said, citing WHO data.
Photo: CNA
Since the center was established, the suicide rate in Taiwan has dropped from 17.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2005 to 15.7 deaths in 2015, Lee said, adding that since 2010, suicide had dropped from the nation’s top 10 causes of death.
However, over the past three years, the suicide rate has begun to increase, reaching 16.4 deaths per 100,000 people last year, an increase of 2.5 percent compared with the year before, Lee said.
Suicide became the nation’s 11th biggest cause of death, he said.
The suicide rate last year was higher for men than for women — 22 men per 100,000 people compared with 11 women per 100,000 people — the center said, but added that the rate for women increased 7.8 percent compared with 0.9 percent for men.
In 2006, the government started keeping track of suicide attempts and hospitals assist in reporting suicide attempts, with the number of attempts increasing from 25,201 people (28,996 reports) in 2016 to 26,387 people (30,619 reports) last year, the highest total so far, Lee said.
“Suicide is a complicated issue and requires the help of everyone, especially when society perpetuates the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness, making people afraid to seek psychological counseling or medical attention,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.
Chen said he hopes the government and civil groups would continue to work together to help more people understand suicide prevention, urging people to show more concern, listen to those around them and refer depressed people to seek treatment.
“In suicide prevention, everyone is a gatekeeper,” Lee said, adding that the center promotes the message that everyone can help prevent suicidal behavior by practicing “ask — respond — refer.”
People must “ask” the person who is emotionally distressed or depressed if they are thinking of harming themselves, “respond” by encouraging and staying with the person, and “refer” the person to professional counseling or medical treatment, he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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