Suicide has become the second-biggest cause of death among people aged 15 to 24, statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed.
Last year, 47 more people aged 15 to 24 died by suicide than in 2019, an increase of 22.4 percent, ministry data showed.
Suicides in the age group also accounted for 22.6 percent of all suicides reported last year, the sixth consecutive year that the figure increased, the data showed.
Control Yuan members Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容), Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) and Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊) said that they are investigating the cause of the increase, adding that they hope to establish a more robust suicide prevention network.
The Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center on Sept. 6 last year reported that in 2019, it received 35,324 reports of attempted suicides, with 3,864 attempts resulting in deaths.
“Is the current school counseling system not effective enough?” Fan asked.
The Control Yuan members plan to determine how school counselors can work more closely with national and regional suicide prevention centers, and whether the number of suicide prevention volunteers in each region is adequate to meet area demand, Fan added.
“Improving suicide prevention measures is something that society must come together on as a whole,” she said. “You need families, companies, schools — all of these networks — to come together so that people have diverse channels for getting the resources they need.”
Taiwan could take a cue from Japan, where officials hold a week of events each year starting on Sept. 10 — which is World Suicide Prevention Day — to increase public awareness, Fan said.
Over the week, there are public service announcements, which Japanese celebrities are invited to host, she added.
“Since 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has produced books to improve suicide prevention among young people,” she said.
Young people spend most of their time at home and at school, so parents’ ability to recognize emotional distress in their children must be improved, she said.
A high-school student has initiated a petition calling for psychology classes at junior and senior-high schools, in addition to health classes, and the petition has rapidly reached the second stage, she said.
“Improving parents’ and schools’ understanding of psychological issues is something that cannot be put off,” she said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS