Health minister expresses grief over high suicide levels

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Saturday expressed grief over the national loss of human resources by the rising tendency of young people to commit suicide and said the government will come up with a strategy soon.

He was inaugurating a mass contact programme here to conscientise the general public about the increasing rate of suicides.

"The mounting incidence of suicide has become a public health issue of global importance as brought out by the World Health Organisation in a recent report. The government will adopt a strategy on suicide prevention which will stress on counselling and wider spread of treatment centres for depression," Harsh Vardhan said.

India is ranked 12th in the world in suicide rates, but home to the highest number of suicides among people in the 15-29 age group. The rate of suicide in this age group is 35.5 per 100,000 people.

"This is no age to die. These are people who could contribute a lot to nation building because a great number of them are well educated. They took the extreme step out of depression forced on them by some form of disillusionment. With timely counselling they could have been saved," the minister said.

He pointed out that 1.5-2 million people commit suicide in India annually.

"Medical students, management students, engineering students, young professionals and even government officials are committing suicide in large numbers. This has serious implications for the future," Harsh Vardhan said.

He urged the parents of young children to instil in their progeny values of patience and magnanimity.

"Do not pressurize them to achieve impossible goals. Love them for what they are instead of taunting them for not living up to your ideal," he said.

Meanwhile, a cycle rally is going on in Kerala since Sep 11 with the purpose of generating mass awareness about suicides, drug abuse, alcoholism, violence and other social problems.

The campaign, led by Catholic priest Father Davis Chiramel, is named "Ma Nishada" after the first shloka in the Ramayana.