Military Suicides: Lessons Learnt From The Eelam War In Sri Lanka
By Ruwan M Jayatunge -August 16, 2012
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest — whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories — comes afterward. These are games; one must first answer - Albert Camus
Suicide is regarded as one of the major public health problems in Sri Lanka and has received considerable attention in recent years. Suicides are the fourth most frequent cause of death in hospitals in Sri Lanka. (Fernando et al., 2010) argues that deaths from suicide reached a peak in Sri Lanka in 1995. Several interventions reduced the suicide rate of 48.7 per 100,000 in 1995 to 23 per 100,000 in 2006, though it is still a major socioeconomic problem. In 2007 Sri Lanka had a rate of about 21 suicides per 100,000 people.
The validity of reported prevalence of suicide depends to a considerable degree on the method for determining the cause of death, the comprehensiveness of the death reporting system, and the procedures employed to estimate national rates based on crude cause of death data (Suicide and Suicide Prevention in Asia –WHO).Sri Lanka has an Island wide health services system and reporting of death is mandatory. Therefore most of the suicides do not go without being reported.
There are many psychosocial and economic factors that contribute to suicides in Sri Lanka. Some Sociologists had viewed that the prolonged armed conflict in the North had drastic effects on the suicide rates in Sri Lanka. During the past 15 years in war-torn Sri Lanka, it is estimated that nearly 50000 persons have been killed. Deaths due to suicide, in the same period, are estimated to be 106000 – twice the number due to war. (Suicide Prevention: Emerging from Darkness WHO)
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