Azerbaijani gov’t plans to fight suicide – in the meantime advises journalists ‘not to romanticize suicide’

A plan to prevent suicides in Azerbaijan is being prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection along with the UN – this is the first time in the country that the state intends to fight suicide at the state level.

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How serious is the problem?

Suicide in Azerbaijan is relatively low, at least according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

Statistics are not published in open sources, and the methodology and degree of reliability are unknown. 

According to the World Health Organization, the number of subsidies per 100,000 people in Azerbaijan has grown by about 1.5 times in between 2012 to 2016, from 1.7 to 2.7.

This is largely due to the sharp fall in the value of the manat. 

In addition, in recent years there have been several high-profile suicides that were at the center of attention of the public and the press. 

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“Don’t romanticize suicide” – Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population

The Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anar Karimov during the round table on the preparation of the plan requested journalists “not to get carried away with describing suicides, not to romanticize or heroize them.”

Also, a representative of the ministry believes that to prevent suicide, the efforts of all sectors should be combined: from education to justice, and from politics to agriculture.  How exactly this can be done is still being discussed. It is planned to create hotlines, support for youth, and programs aimed at risk groups and community development.