Epidemiology of suicide in Pakistan: determining rates in six cities.
In recent years suicide has become a major public health problem in Pakistan. Despite this there are no official statistics on suicide and national rates are unknown. To determine rates we carried out an analysis of suicide reports from six cities in Pakistan. Rates vary from 0.43/100,000 in Peshawar to 2.86/100,000 in Rawalpindi. Rates for men are consistently higher than women; highest rates for men were 7.06/100,000 between the ages 20-40 years in Larkana, Sindh province. Given the legal, socio-cultural, and religious stigma of suicides in Pakistan, we believe these figures to be an underestimate. There is urgent need for a standard system of recording of suicides in Pakistan, so that true rates can be determined. This will help in informing policy and monitoring effectiveness of suicide prevention programs.
Khan
Murad M
MM
Department of Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. murad.khan@aku.edu
Naqvi
Haider
H
Thaver
Durrane
D
Prince
Martin
M
D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*