The Endgame of Section 309? An Appeal for Decriminalisation of Suicide

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 800 000 people lose their lives each year to suicide (1]. This translates to one loss of life every 40 seconds. For each loss of life, approximately 20 others attempt suicide [1]. The prevalence of suicide in Malaysia is reported to be 6 to 8 per 100,000 population in a systematic review conducted by Armitage and team (2015) [2] while the Ministry of Health’s National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM) [3] reported a much lower, likely under-reported figure of 1.18 per 100 000 population. Although the NRSM is currently inactive after 2010 due to funding issues, the prevalence of suicide-related symptoms as reflected in the National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) reports are concerning. In 2011, the NHMS reported that there were 1.7% who had suicidal ideation, 0.9% with suicide plans and 0.5% who had attempted suicide [4]. In the more recent 2017 NHMS report, nearly 7% of Malaysian adolescents were found to have attempted suicide [5]. Please click PDF below to download the full paper...