PAHO Reports 7 Suicides Per Hour in the Americas Pan American Health Organization
go to original November 1, 2014

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MEXICO CITY - Some 65,000 people take their own lives in the Americas each year - more than 7 per hour - according to a report released by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report, Suicide Mortality in the Americas, is based on data from 48 countries and territories in the Western Hemisphere. It shows that suicide is a significant health problem and one of the region’s leading preventable causes of death.

“Many things about suicide make it especially tragic,” said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. “The severe emotional suffering of the one who takes his life; the feelings of loss, abandonment or guilt of family members and friends left behind; and it is so permanent yet many times for problems which can be solved. But to a large extent suicide is preventable. Research has shown that reducing access to the most common means like fire arms pesticides, and certain medicine helps lessen suicides.”

Regionwide, the Americas has a lower average suicide rate (7.3 per 100,000 inhabitants) than the global average (11.4 per 100,000) and lower than other WHO regions. Within the Americas, however, rates vary significantly in different countries as well as by age and sex. Among subregions, North America and the non-Hispanic Caribbean have the highest suicide rates. Men have higher rates than women in all the region’s countries. And among age groups, people over age 70 have the highest suicide rates.

Other significant findings of the new report include:

• Suicide is the third-leading cause of death in young people ages 10 to 24
• Adults over age 70 are the most likely to die from suicide
• Men are about 4 times more likely than women to die from suicide, although women make more suicide attempts
• The most common method of suicide in the region is suffocation (including hanging), followed by firearms and poisoning (including drug overdose and pesticide ingestion)
• Suicide declined slightly in North America between 2005 and 2009 but increased in Latin America and the Caribbean
• The countries in the region with the highest suicide rates (for 2005-2009) were: Guyana (26.2 per 100,000), Suriname (23.3), Uruguay (14.2), Chile (11.2), Trinidad and Tobago (10.7), the United States (10.1), Cuba (9.9) and Canada (9.7).

Read the rest at Pan American Health Organization

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