A doctor at Trung Vuong Hospital in HCMC checks on a man who drank pesticide after an argument with his girlfriend.

Doctors say Ho Chi Minh City needs to work hard to curb increasing suicide rates.

The statistics, taken at the District 10 Hospital from May 2007 until May 2008, were part of a report released at a Wednesday meeting of Trung Vuong doctors and administrators as well as other health and psychology experts.

About 1.3 percent of the patients died despite lifesaving efforts at the hospital, said Pham Anh Tuan – head of the Truong Vuong’s Recuperation and Emergency Department.

Nearly 72 percent of the suicide patients were female, but the male suicide attempts had a higher death rate than females, the report said. Half the cases were under 25-yearsold.

Some 90 percent of those who attempted suicide expressed regret for their actions to doctors and family members, Tuan said at the meeting.

“The patients often beg us to save them, but in many cases we are helpless.”

Tuan said suicide is the result of many complicated factors related to culture and society.

He said suicide rates often jump in times of economic and societal change. He said that it also often involves personal crises such as unrequited love, job loss, or family conflicts.

Problems related to love, according to the report, were the leading cause of attempted suicide, with 62 percent of the patients citing conflicts with their lovers as a cause.

Difficulties related to money were the second leading cause at nearly 15 percent.

Tuan said 53 percent of the people who tried to kill themselves were single.

He reported that 98 percent of the hospital’s suicide patients tried to kill themselves with sleeping bills and pesticides.

The doctor said preventing suicide would require government campaigns on suicide prevention as well as therapy programs for people with psychological and emotional problems.

He said statistical studies and analyses of the reasons and methods of suicide would be essential to understanding the problem.

Vietnam has yet to report its annual suicide statistics to the World Heath Organization (WHO), while neighboring countries like China, Thailand and Indonesia do every year.

WHO statistics indicate that almost 3,000 people commit suicide across the globe every day.

Suicide is a leading cause of death among teenagers and adults under 35, according to the global body.

The WHO currently works with the International Association for Suicide Prevention in creating initiatives to help prevent suicide.

October 9 is the WHO’s World Suicide Prevention Day.

Source: Tuoi Tre