SEOUL - The South Korean government announced on Tuesday a comprehensive strategy aimed at significantly reducing the nation's suicide rates, currently the highest among the countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the plan includes an ambitious goal to lower the current suicide rate from 25.2 per 100,000 people to the OECD average of 10.6 within the next decade. This will be achieved through an expanded mental health care program, which is set to provide psychological counseling services to 80,000 people diagnosed with mental illness in the coming year. This initiative is expected to broaden its reach to one million individuals by 2027. Additionally, the program will offer biennial mental health checkups for individuals aged 20-34, aimed at early detection of mental health issues such as depression and schizophrenia. This is a significant enhancement from the current practice of once-per-decade checkups.
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring accessible mental health care services and appropriate treatment for mental health patients, facilitating their integration into community life.
Further steps in this multi-faceted approach include mandatory suicide prevention education for the general public starting July next year, as well as enhanced training for social welfare facility workers. This educational initiative is part of a broader response to the 9 percent increase in suicide deaths observed in the first half of the year, a rise attributed largely to economic hardships post-COVID-19, as reported by the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
With a persistent leading position in suicide rates among the 34 OECD nations since 2003, South Korea is also addressing the needs of patients with severe mental illnesses. Plans are underway to increase the number of mental health emergency centers nationwide by 2025 and to allow general hospitals to claim higher medical expenses for treating such patients in closed wards, starting January. The government is also considering granting judicial authorities the power to hospitalize mentally ill individuals posing a danger to themselves or others, as a measure of public safety.