Statistics on Suicides and Attempted Suicides by Age Group in Past Five Years and Programmes and Funds Dedicated to Prevention and Promoting Awareness
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the statistics on suicides and attempted suicides by age group over the past five years and the funding allocated for prevention and awareness programs. Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis requested these figures and 2021 program details, to which Minister Ong Ye Kung replied that suicide data is publicly released annually by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority. The Minister noted that attempted suicide was decriminalised on 1 January 2020 and outlined four key strategies focusing on building resilience, early identification, and crisis support. These integrated mental health initiatives received over $28 million from Government grants and community funds in Financial Year 2020. This multi-sectoral approach aims to encourage help-seeking and support at-risk groups through various health, social, and education programmes.
Transcript
35 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Health in each of the past five years (a) what is the number of suicides and attempted suicides by age group; and (b) in 2021 to date, what is the number of programmes and amount of funds dedicated specifically to suicide prevention services and promoting awareness of suicide warning signs.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The number of suicide cases by age group is publicly released in the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) on an annual basis. The annual number of suicide cases by age group in the past five years is summarised at Table 1.
Persons who are greatly distressed and attempt to take their own life require help and the criminal justice system may not be the best option to deal with attempted suicides. As of 1 January 2020, attempted suicide was decriminalised via the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019. The number of attempted suicides that the Police had attended to in the past five year is summarised at Table 2.
Suicide prevention spans several sectors including health, social and education, and are based on four key strategies: (a) building mental resilience; (b) encourage help seeking and early identification; (c) supporting at-risk groups; and (d) providing crisis support. Efforts under these strategies are integrated with mainstream mental health and well-being programmes implemented in various settings. These programmes received over $28 million from Government grants and community funds in Financial Year 2020.