The number of people worldwide who die from suicide is declining, but one person still kills themselves every 40 seconds, according to new figures from the World Health Organization, which said countries needed to do more to stop these preventable deaths.

Between 2010 and 2016, the global suicide rate decreased by 9.8 percent, the U.N. health body said in its second report on the issue. The only region to see an increase was the Americas.

“Every death is a tragedy for family, friends and colleagues. Yet suicides are preventable. We call on all countries to incorporate proven suicide prevention strategies into national health and education programs in a sustainable way,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

WHO said close to 800,000 people die by suicide every year, more than those lost to malaria, breast cancer, or war and homicide, calling it a “serious global public health issue.” It said only 38 countries had suicide prevention strategies.

Suicide rates were higher than the global, age-standardized average — 10.5 per 100,000 people — in Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Worldwide, more men killed themselves than women, WHO said, with 7.5 suicide deaths per 100,000 women and 13.7 suicides per 100,000 men. The only countries where the suicide rate was estimated to be higher in women than men were Bangladesh, China, Lesotho, Morocco and Myanmar.

While 79 percent of the world’s suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries, high-income countries had the highest rate, at 11.5 per 100,000 people, WHO said.

“Nearly three times as many men as women die by suicide in high-income countries, in contrast to low- and middle-income countries, where the rate is more equal,” the WHO statement said.

“Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years, after road injury. Among teens aged 15-19, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among girls (after maternal conditions) and the third-leading cause of death in boys, after road injury and interpersonal violence.”

WHO said one way to bring down the global suicide rate would be to limit access to pesticides, which — along with hanging and firearms — are the most common method of suicide.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【他杀】tāshā homicide the killing of one person by another

【农药】nóngyào pesticide a chemical substance used to kill harmful insects, small animals, wild plants, and other unwanted organisms

世界范围内死于自杀的人数在下降，但根据世界卫生组织的新数据，每40秒钟仍有一个人自杀身亡，世界卫生组织指出，世界各国应该做出更多努力，阻止这些可预防的死亡发生。世界卫生组织在第二份自杀死亡报告中写道，2010年至2016年间，全球自杀率下降了9.8%。美洲是唯一一个自杀率上升的地区。

世界卫生组织的总干事特沃德罗斯·阿达诺姆博士说： “每一起死亡对家人、朋友和同事来说都是悲剧。然而自杀是可以防止

的。我们呼吁所有国家用可持续的方式将经过验证的自杀预防策略加入国民健康和教育计划中。”

世界卫生组织称，每年有近80万人死于自杀，超过死于疟疾、乳腺癌、战争和凶杀案的人数，并将自杀称为”严重的全球公共健康问题”。世界卫生组织表示，只有38个国家有自杀预防策略。

在非洲、欧洲和东南亚，自杀率超过年龄标准化全球平均水平--每10万人10.5个。

世界卫生组织称，在世界范围内，自杀的男性比女性更多，每10万个女性中有7.5人自杀，而每10万个男性中有13.7人自杀。女性自杀率超过男性的国家只有孟加拉国、中国、莱索托、摩洛哥和缅甸。

世界卫生组织称：“尽管世界上79%的自杀发生在中低收入国家，高收入国家的自杀率却是最高的，每10万人中有11.5人自杀。”

该组织的报告称：“高收入国家中死于自杀的男性数量是女性的近三倍，相比之下，中低收入国家男性和女性的自杀率更接近。”

“自杀是15岁到29岁年轻人的第二大死因，仅次于道路交通伤害。在15岁到19岁的青少年当中，自杀是女孩的第二大死因（仅次于分娩死亡）和男孩的第三大死因（仅次于道路交通伤害和人际暴力）。”

世界卫生组织称，降低全球自杀率的方法之一就是限制人们获取农药的渠道，农药、上吊和枪支是自杀最常用的三种方法。 (chinadaily.com.cn)