Insurance cover and suicide rates

An evergreen election issue is health service provision, and this time around mental health services, and suicide prevention are particularly in the spotlight. New Zealand’s record isn’t great, but perhaps not quite as bad as sometimes suggested.

Looking at OECD data New Zealand sits about 24th out of 35 countries for the 2012-2015 with a rate per 100,000 of 12.5. That period was chosen because there is data for all members for that period. Recently it may have got a bit worse, but in 2009 in was slightly higher at 13.2 – a fact I note only because I last looked at this issue in detail back then.

That remains nothing to be satisfied with, and it gets worse when you look at the rate for youth. Earlier this year the BBC reported that New Zealand has the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world. “The rate of 15.6 suicides per 100,000 people is twice as high as the US rate and almost five times that of Britain”

The fact that around 600 people each year take their own lives is appalling. It is often pointed out: that’s higher than the road toll. You may wonder, though, if someone wishes to take their own life, can anything be done?