Bangladesh 10th among suicide-prone nations

Experts on Tuesday suggested increased anti-suicide campaigns in Bangladesh as the country has been witnessing increasing number of suicides every day.

"According to the 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) report, Bangladesh scored 10th place in the list of high suicide-prone nations… the country witnesses nearly eight incidents of suicides among every 100,000 people," Joyosree Jaman, convener of anti-suicidal campaign forum Brighter Bangladesh, told a press briefing.

She said most of the people aged between 21 and 30 were led by extreme emotions due to family or social reasons.

Joyosree added, "Suicide appears to many people as a permanent solution to their temporary problems but the experts found that most of those who survived their suicide attempts are happy as they are still living in the world," she told the briefing at Jatiya Press Club.

Joyosree, a journalist by profession, launched the anti-suicide campaign by floating the Brighter Bangladesh as her two teenage children committed suicide together in September last year in Uttara, sparking a nationwide shock.

The press briefing was organised to outline the campaign ahead of the WHO-sponsored Suicide Prevention Day today.

Dr Helal Uddin of National Mental Health Institution told the briefing that in a country of some 16 crore people, Bangladesh now has a little over 200 doctors who treat mental diseases and most of them are concentrated in the capital alone.

"However, prevention of suicide is not doctors' job alone… expert studies found if anyone can just express his or her temptation to commit suicide, in almost all the persons' desire to carry out the fatal decision dies down," he said.

Helal said counseling was crucial for people who developed an intention to kill themselves, while family members and friends could play a crucial role in the absence of trained psychiatrists or doctors.

Journalist Anwar Kabir, who earlier conducted an extensive journalistic study, called for engaging NGOs to spearhead the anti-suicide campaign to generate massive awareness in the family and community levels.

According to Police Headquarters, nearly 60,000 cases of suicides were recorded in last six years, while 1,029 such cases were recorded in 2013 alone.