The Philippines ranks first in Southeast Asia with the lowest suicide rate despite 20 million Filipinos who consider themselves poor.
According to the latest data from the World Population Review, the nation has a suicide rate of 2.2 population of 100,000, placing it ninth on the list. This translates to roughly 2,542 suicide cases for its population of 115,559,009.
WPR culled its data from the World Health Organization and World Health Statistics
In another survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2021, the number of Filipinos who feel they are poor has risen to 20 million.
The Top 10 list
The top 10 countries with the least suicide rate are Antigua and Barbuda (0.4 per 100,000 population), Barbados (0.6), Grenada (0.7), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1.0), Sao Tome and Principe (1.5), Jordan (1.6), Honduras (2.1), Venezuela (2.1), Philippines (2.2) and Jamaica (2.4).
On the other hand, the top 10 countries with the highest suicide rates per 100,000 population are Lesotho (72.4); Guyana (40.3); Eswatini (29.4); South Korea (28.6); Kiribati (28.3); Micronesia (28.2); Lithuania (26.1); Suriname (25.4); Russia (25.1) and South Africa (23.5).
The World Health Organization reported that more than 700,000 die due to suicide every year, making it the fourth leading cause of death among 15-19 years old.
“Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities, and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind. Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds globally in 2019,” said a WHO report published last year.
WHO said that while it sees a link between suicide and mental disorders particularly depression and alcohol use in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively due to the inability of a person to deal with life stresses such as financial problems, relationship break-up, or chronic pain or illness.
“Suicide rates are also high amongst vulnerable groups who experience discrimination, such as refugees and migrants; indigenous peoples; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex persons; and prisoners. By far the strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt,” the report stated.
WHO: Suicide is preventable
WHO says suicide is preventable but has not been adequately addressed due to a lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it.
“To date, only a few countries have included suicide prevention among their health priorities and only 38 countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy,” it added.
WHO recommends the following intervention for suicide prevention: Limit access to the means of suicide (e.g. pesticides, firearms, certain medications); interact with the media for responsible reporting of suicide; foster socio-emotional life skills in adolescents; and early identify, assess, manage and follow up anyone who is affected by suicidal behaviors.
3.5M families felt poor in 2021
Meanwhile, the PSA revealed on Monday that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the number of Filipino families feeling they are poor to 3.5 million families or about 20 million individuals in 2021.
The findings were based on the preliminary results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey of the PSA.
PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa placed the number at 13.2 percent compared to 12.1 percent before the pandemic in 2018.
This means that about 20 million Filipinos treated themselves as poor in 2021 versus 17.67 million recorded last 2018, Mapa added.
He said the FIES survey showed that poverty incidence among the population, defined as the proportion of Filipinos whose per capita income cannot sufficiently meet the individual basic food and non-food needs, was recorded at 18.1 percent, higher compared to 16.7 percent last 2018.
Food-poor families
“The subsistence incidence among families or the percentage of families earning insufficient to meet their basic food needs in 2021 was 3.9 percent, significantly higher compared to 2018 at 3.4 percent.
Food poor families, meanwhile, reached 1.04 million on 2021, increasing from 840,000 in 2018. In 2021, the subsistence incidence among the population was at 5.9 percent, higher by 0.7 percentage point compared to 2018’s 5.2 percent,” Mapa disclosed.
The food-poor population in 2021 was at 6.55 million Filipinos, surging from 5.54 million Filipinos in 2018, he said.
Among regions, the National Capital Region has posted the least poverty incidence among families in 2021 at 2.2 percent, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the highest at 29.8 percent.
Falling short
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan attributed the increase in poverty incidence among the population to the ill effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and employment during the period.
“This translates to 2.3 million Filipinos being pushed into poverty from 2018 to 2021. This also means that the country’s poverty incidence fell short of its 2021 target of 15.5 to 17.5 percent as indicated in the updated Philippine Development Plan for 2017 to 2022. But we take these 2021 statistics as our baseline. We do know that we have a tough road ahead, but we are already prepared to face these challenges head-on,” Balisacan told reporters.
The Marcos administration continues to face roadblocks, including a low pace of gross domestic product (GDP) of 7.4 percent in the second quarter of 2022, missing expectations amid high inflation.
“The previous administration did not anticipate the kind of inflation we have today, but with the reorientation of our targeting system that we are ramping up, our digitalization so that we can target our resources to the most deserving ones, achieving more successes. I think we are on track,” Balisacan said.
He stressed that the overall goal of the next Philippine Development Plan from 2023 to 2028 is to reinvigorate job creation and poverty reduction.
Balisacan said that the government is focused on three main areas, including the full reopening of the economy; more investments in human capital, social development, and social protection; and transformation of the production sectors to generate more quality jobs and competitive products.
@tribunephl_raf