: It Takes a Village: 4 Things India Needs to Excel at to Prevent Suicides #IndiaNEWS #Lede Due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, many Indians are experiencing depression, anxiety, or some other

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It Takes a Village: 4 Things India Needs to Excel at to Prevent Suicides #IndiaNEWS #Lede
Due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, many Indians are experiencing depression, anxiety, or some other form of mental health concern. The pandemic is set to compound mental distress. It is likely to be worse for those who are already on the socio-economic margins, considering the lack of sufficient social security nets. Cases of familial conflicts and gendered violence are on the rise, as evidenced by reports from government crisis helplines. COVID has severely disrupted social networks, particularly for people who do not have access to technology, while destroying livelihoods and community resources like shelter homes for the urban homeless. People who do not have access to a smartphone and the internet are facing trouble in accessing basic services such as banking and train travel.
With 18 percent of the global population residing in India, the country accounts for a quarter of global suicide deaths. Suicide is the leading cause of death among those in the 15–39 age group in India. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the country has lost more than 24,000 adolescents aged 14–18 years from 2017–2019. More than 16 percent of these deaths were due to them failing their exams. A similar trend is evident globally as well. Today, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15–29 years old and it qualifies as a top public health priority. In 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritised reduction of suicide deaths and included suicide rates as one of the indicators under its health-related goal.
India is a signatory in the implementation of the SDGs and has set up mechanisms to measure its progress, committing to reduce the suicide rate by one-third by 2030. Recently Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog launched India’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum on the SDGs. In this report, he says, “India has fully adopted the SDG framework and is aligned to its development. � While the report talks about the merits of the Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017, it does not mention anything about the government’s efforts to reduce suicide. Moreover, four years later, the MHCA is yet to be implemented in its full letter and spirit in most states across the country.
Understanding suicide prevention work

Suicide prevention work does not typically fit into the biomedical approach, which prioritises the use of medication to treat psychosocial issues while ignoring experiences of abuse, poverty, and racial, caste, and gender inequalities. The conventional approach of suicide prevention from a biomedical lens is based on the premise that suicide is a mental health issue.

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