http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=104006&d=26&m=11&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Monday 26 November 2007 (16 Dhul Qa`dah 1428)
Suicide Cases on the Rise Among Expats
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News -
JEDDAH, 26 November 2007 - Suicide cases in Saudi Arabia are
on the increase. The Health Ministry reported recently that at least 266
people, including expatriates, took their own lives in 2006. During the same
period, 295 were murdered.
The ministry's legal medical centers received 1,912 cases of
deaths from unknown causes last year. The report said 1,632 of them, or 85.3
percent, were men while 34.5 percent (659) were Saudis.
Expatriates accounted for 77 percent of suicides last year
with Indians (203) taking 43 percent, followed by Bangladeshis (155),
Pakistanis (141), Yemenis (102) and Egyptians (97). "Of the total deaths last
year, 957 or 50.1 percent were not natural and suicides represented 27 percent
of such deaths," the report said, adding that the reasons for 93 deaths were
not known.
The ministry pointed out that 79 percent of people (212) who
committed suicide were men. The number of Saudis who committed suicide was 100
or 37.6 percent of the total and Saudi men accounted for 82 percent and women
12 percent.
The largest number of suicides were in the Riyadh region,
followed by 253 in Asir, 198 in the Makkah region, 170 in the Eastern Province
and 142 in the Madinah region.
According to Dr. Abdul Razak Al-Hamad, consultant in mental
medicine at King Saud University, the exact figures for suicides in Saudi
Arabia are not available. He said compared to other countries the rate of
suicides in Saudi Arabia - 1 out of 100,000 persons - is the lowest in the
world.
Al-Hamad attributed the low rate of suicide cases in the
Kingdom to people's commitment to Islamic teachings that prohibit suicide, as
well as to social and economic stability. In the US, suicide is the eighth main
reason of death.
The largest numbers of suicides are in the age group 30 to 39
and they represent about 44.3 percent of the total, followed by those aged
20-29, which accounts for 33.6 percent. As many as 63 percent of people ended
their lives by hanging while 12 percent jumped from a high place.
Businessmen and company directors are listed at the top of
the list of people committing suicide, followed by policemen and doctors.
<<logo.gif>>
<<pixel.gif>>
