Suicide prevention spend criticised

THE Government spends six times less on suicide prevention than it does on road safety campaigns even though more people die as a result of suicide each year, it emerged yesterday.

Anti-depression group Aware told the Oireachtas Committee on Health yesterday that since 1998, the Government has provided €17.5 million for suicide prevention in research. Yet, that is similar to the yearly budget for road safety campaigns.

Julie Healy and Sandra Hogan of Aware said 336 people were killed on the roads during 2003, compared to 444 people who died as a result of suicide.

“There is a definite need for a national public information campaign on mental health and the maintenance of mental health,” said Ms Hogan.

“Rather than focusing exclusively on helping people recover from illness and depression, we should equally focus on preventative measures, recognising depression, and ensuring people’s well-being is being maintained.”

A delegation from Schizophrenia Ireland (SI) argued that recovery from the illness should be the “over-arching objective of mental health policy”.

The organisation questioned how effective had been the practice of transferring people from old-fashioned psychiatric institutions to the community in some areas.

“There continues to be a reliance on the maintenance model of care for people with a psychiatric illness. This devalues the ability of people to participate actively in the management of their own care.”

Health committee chairman Dr Jimmy Devins said it would highlight the need for a full public awareness campaign on suicide and a need to look closely at the community care models being pursued in some regions.