BACOLOD CITY, Sept. 16 (PNA) — The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas or Region 6 has allocated P500,000 for the purchase of psychotropic drugs for 2016 and conducted continuous interventions to counter the increase in suicide cases in the region.
In Negros Occidental, excluding its capital Bacolod City, eight cases of death by suicide were recorded from January to September this year, the second highest in Western Visayas, records of DOH-6 showed.
Data obtained by DOH-6 from the different city and provincial police offices in the region revealed that Iloilo City registered the highest number of suicide cases in the region: 10 cases of death by suicide, and two suicide attempts since January this year.
Aklan has five cases and Guimaras has none.
On the other hand, the police offices of Bacolod City and the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Antique have not yet submitted their 2015 reports.
The DOH also noted that the Iloilo province has recorded 18 deaths by suicide from 2009 to 2014.
Dr. May Ann Sta. Lucia, medical officer for non-communicable disease cluster of DOH-6, who spoke at the forum on Generic Awareness and Mental Health at the Forest Park Resort in this city, said that the major risk factor of suicide cases in the region is depression.
Sta. Lucia said 78 to 98 percent of suicides are due to depression. Other risk factors are availability of means, previous history of suicide attempt, family history, lack of family support and terminal illness.
In terms of age bracket, suicide cases are common from 15 to 24 years old, she added.
“This is very alarming,” Sta. Lucia said, adding these are just partial figures. She said suicide in general is alarming because it is the 10th cause of death in the world with 800,000 to one million people committing suicide every year.
In Negros Occidental, the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) assists an average of 40 individuals with mental problems per month; four out of nine are having schizophrenia, others have bipolar disorder and addiction both in drugs and cyber games.
Sta. Lucia said the DOH-6 has also employed 30 psychiatrists for the whole region, including eight in Negros Occidental. (PNA)