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Friday, 26.04.2024, 17:12
Suicide rate down in Lithuania in 2017, more people see psychologists
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According to
data provided by the Institute of Hygiene, 749 people committed suicide in
Lithuania last year, down from 823 in 2016, 891 in 2015, 935 in 2014 and 1,085
in 2013.
The suicide rate has also declined over the past few
years from 30.41 suicides per population of 100,000 in 2015 to 28.3 in 2016 and
26 last year.
Mykolas Majauskas, conservative MP who heads the
parliamentary Suicide and Violence Prevention Commission, said that the gradual
decline in the suicide rate should not be celebrated, as the overall number of
people taking their own lives remains rather high, which highlights the
problems in the mental health system.
The MP noted a consistent increase in the number of
people visiting psychologists in state-owned clinics.
According to data provided by the State Patients'
Fund, the number of visits to medical psychologists in clinics has increased by
a factor of three over the past three years – from 20,959 in 2014 to 65,000
last year.
The Lithuanian health strategy envisages a goal to
reduce the Lithuanian suicide rate to the European Union (EU) average by 2025,
which is 11 suicides per 100,000 residents. Lithuania's suicide rage remains
the highest among the 28 members of the bloc.
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