MOSCOW, November 30 (Itar-Tass) —— Incidence of suicide among Russian adolescents has fallen 20% over the past few years, Dr. Alla Ivanova, the director of the Central Research Institute of Organization and Digitalization of Healthcare told a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters Wednesday.
She indicated that the Russians commit about 30,000 suicides a year and about 1,500 cases of that number are the suicides committed by teenagers in the age bracket of fifteen the nineteen years old.
Dr Ivanova said that the incidence is 25% bigger among young men than among girls.
On the whole, Russia occupies the world’s third position in terms of teenage suicide and the average rate among young Russians is three times bigger than the world’s average.
More than 90% instances of suicides among the fifteen to nineteen year-old Russians are related to problems in the family – alcohol abuse by the parents, conflicts, and cruel treatment.
The teenage suicide incidence is higher in the northwest regions of Russia, in the Far East and in East Siberia.
Dr Ivanova believes that emphasis in efforts to prevent suicides among teenagers should be made on the troubleshooting of family crises and the timely rendering of social and psychological aid to members of problem families.
At present, Russia has 150 clinics located in 37 regions where young people from vulnerable families can get social and psychological assistance. This experience is worth proliferating to all other regions of the country, Dr Ivanova said.
Russia should develop a system of social protection of children, a system that would assimilate novel methods and approaches, believes Bertrand Bainvel, a representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund /UNICEF/.
He indicated that it is highly desirable for the state to develop and adopt a nationwide program aimed at improving children’s status.
Bainvel especially singled out the importance of making the utilization of budgetary monies allocated for the purpose more efficacious.
UNICEF statistics indicates Russia’s budgetary spending for support to women and children stood at 0.79% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2010.