One-in-three deaths in 15-24 age group caused by suicide, finds report
The shock figure was revealed at a conference on youth suicide prevention in Belfast. The report - Youth Suicide Prevention: an evidence briefing - makes a series of recommendations on how governments north and south of the Border should act to prevent youth suicide. It was launched by Dr Henrietta Campbell, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer.
Dr Philip Crowley, one of the authors, said more people in the 15-24 age group were taking their own lives than were killed in road accidents. The situation was worst in Ireland, he said. In the Republic there were 12 suicides in the age group per 100,000 of population in 1991, but it had risen to 17.5 by 2001. In the North the rate rose from 10.5 to 14.2 in the same period.
