Greece has lowest rate of child suicides in Europe, study finds

Gazzetta team 3 Νοεμβρίου 2015 - 21:24

Greece has the lowest child suicide rate in Europe, according to a study carried out by the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine (HSFM) as part of the broader European-wide Policy Investigation in Europe on Child Endangerment and Support (PIECES) investigating the impact of policies relating to violence against children.

The suicide rate among minors in Greece is 0.4 per 100,000 for boys and 0.11 per 100,000 for girls. The highest rates in Europe, by contrast, are 6.58 per 100,000 in Lithuania for boys and 2.09 per 100,000 in Ireland for girls.

In a discouraging development, however, there was a 20 pct increase in the number of children up to 19 years old that fell victim to murder and other violent crimes in Greece in 2012-2013.

The PIECES initiative is primarily aimed at studying the impact of committees to evaluate child deaths in Europe, in order to prevent incidents of child abuse, accidents and suicides. Committees of this kind currently exist in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Romania.

HSFM President Grigoris Leon noted the lack of a committee along these lines in Greece, adding that highly important actions were being put on hold due to cost and the economic crisis. He said that programmes evaluating the causes of child deaths would make a significant contribution to identifying the factors leading to accidents, suicides and incidents of deadly abuse, allowing the state to take preventive action.