This is the 23rd episode of our podcast, Your Weekly Fix.
In today’s episode we address the issue of India’s suicide crisis. Here is what we learn from data:
India lost 419 individuals to suicide everyday in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Of these 419, 31 children were children--an 18% increase from the year 2019. Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-39 years in India. The data with respect to women is particularly alarming. Indian women accounted for 36% of global suicide deaths among women.
According to the Million Deaths Study, one of the largest studies of premature mortality in the world, one out of 77 Indians above the age of 15 years is at a risk of dying by suicide by the age of 80 years. Dr. Soumitra Pathare, co-author of a new book, Life Interrupted, which aims to break the silence around India’s suicide crisis, joins us on the podcast. He talks of issues with quality of data available and how policy makers should view suicides beyond the narrow prism of mental ill health.
Writer and host: Smitha Nair
Audio producer: Sujit Lad
Graphics designer: Rubin D'Souza
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