In one year, experts from the Ministry of Health found that there were approximately 200 suicides. This number may be low in terms of the annual suicide rate noted by the World Health Organization, but nevertheless, the development of an effective national suicide prevention plan should be launched soon.
In fact, according to what medical experts revealed when Cambodia recently organized a workshop on “Developing a Multisectoral Action Plan for Suicide Prevention,” the statistics on suicide in Cambodia It is still low compared to the world’s figures, but the situation cannot be underestimated.
According to what the World Health Organization has noted, in a year there are a total of 720,000 suicide cases, and these suicides are between 15 and 29 years old, and 73 percent are in poor and middle-class living conditions.
This is what has been recorded in the world, but in Cambodia, experts from the Ministry of Health said that There were 212 cases, of which 79 percent were men. This statistic shows that out of 100,000 people, there is only 4.9 suicides, with Phnom Penh having the highest rate at 39 percent, Kandal 8 percent, Battambang and Siem Reap 7 percent, Preah Sihanouk 6 percent, Svay Rieng 5 percent, Kampong Chhnang 4 percent, Kampong Speu 3 percent, Banteay Meanchey and Kampong Cham 2 percent, and other provinces 17 percent.
The cause of suicide is not specified, but it is only known that the most common method of suicide is hanging. Which is up to 62 percent, jumping from bridges 23 percent, violence 7 percent, jumping from buildings 5 percent, taking medication 2 percent and insecticide 1 percent. This is a tragic thing, even though the statistics in Cambodia are still low, and thank goodness the Ministry of Health is starting to think about this issue after a time when our society seemed to pay less attention. Thanks to the experts who have studied, but in order to reduce this problem, more research should be done or studies should be done to find the reasons for suicide so that we can solve this problem so that it does not get worse in the future.
According to the records and determination of the causes of suicide in the world, the World Health Organization claims that the reasons for suicide are many, but the main ones are influenced by social, cultural, biological, psychological and environmental factors in the human life cycle.
So far, we know that the Ministry of Health is preparing to build a plan for the prevention of suicide. Therefore, a detailed study of the sources or reasons is also an important point leading to the formulation of policies to prevent this problem from occurring in society.
Suicide is the leading cause of the 20 leading causes of death, and the United Nations has also included it in the Sustainable Development Goals. With a specific target of reducing the suicide mortality rate by one-third by 2030, building an effective suicide prevention plan is what Cambodia should do to help its people and also to help as a way to contribute to reducing the pressure of the current global problem.
In short, suicide in Cambodia is a social problem that we should continue to pay more attention to, and for this task to progress and improve, it requires participation. And attention from the relevant parties.
There are more than 200 suicide cases a year, which is very few, but don’t forget that if more than 200 people make this decision, they may have the consequences of that problem, which is so painful that they dare to end their life, which everyone thinks is the most precious and everyone born in this world, no one wants to die.
