Chennai psychiatrist Lakshmi Vijayakumar was in a delicate situation last week. Invited to Cairo for a Regional Suicide Consultation by the WHO, she was given the tough task of convincing the Islamic countries of the Middle East that they needed a system to curb suicides.
“They (WHO) probably needed a neutral person to be their advisor and as an Indian and a Hindu, I was a safe bet. Not surprisingly, there were no representatives from the USA or the UK,” quips Dr Lakshmi, who is a member of the WHO International Network for Suicide Prevention and Research. She is also the founder of SNEHA, the NGO that works around the clock to prevent suicides in Tamil Nadu.
“Suicide rates in the Islamic countries are generally low because the religion strictly forbids suicide.
Several verses of the Koran state that taking one’s own life is against the will of Allah. However, this has also resulted in a taboo against talking about suicide and it is grossly under-reported,” explains Dr Lakshmi.
“Suicide attempts are never reported and suicidal deaths are recorded as natural deaths,” she says, pointing out that in these countries, post-mortems are not done. Islamic law is also against autopsies, and hundreds of suicides are brushed under the carpet, she says.
WHO has for the first time managed to bring health authorities from countries such as Iran, the UAE, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon together to discuss incorporation of suicide prevention in the community health services.
“The first step is to make these governments admit that suicides were occurring in their nations — the official records in Pakistan and Afghanistan show a zero suicide situation, while the newspapers report one or two suicides everyday,” she says.
“Iran could set an example for its neighbours. The government has been very proactive and it is now mandatory to report every suicide.
Iran has an estimated suicide rate of 6 per 100,000,” says Dr Lakshmi. India’s suicide rate is 11.5 per 100,000 population.
Several interesting home truths were revealed during the discussions in Cairo. The representative from Afghanistan’s health ministry admitted that suicides were very much prevalent, and more women kill themselves than men, due to the practice of forced marriage.
“It is socially acceptable for very young girls to be married off to much older men. Self-immolation and hanging are the most common methods used,” says Dr Lakshmi.
The touchy topic of suicide bombers was also brought up. “Suicide bombers are made to think that they are doing God’s work, and do not understand it as suicide.
The psychological profile of a suicide bomber would tell you that they are very simple people who have no idea what they are doing,” she explains.
“These countries do not record deaths properly, and even when they do, there is no record of the manner of death,” she says.
Most delegates were positive about change, but there was no representation from war-torn Iraq and Gaza regions. Saudi Arabia did not participate in the consultation either.