Letter to the EditorFemales are dying more than males by suicide in Bangladesh
Introduction
Bangladesh is a hugelyinhabited country in the south-east Asia, having about 160 million population of total population and about 1063 people per square kilometer (Shahnaz et al., 2017; Arafat, 2017; Arafat et al., 2018a, 2018b; Mashreky et al., 2013). Suicide is a complex, multi-causal, global however, preventable public health which is under prioritized in Bangladesh (World Health Organization, 2014; Shahnaz et al., 2017; Mashreky et al., 2013; Shah et al., 2017, 2018; Arafat et al., 2018a, 2018b; Arafat, 2017; 2018; Tandon and Nathani, 2018; Suryadevara and Tandon, 2018). According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, about 100,000 population are dying by suicide per year (World Health Organization, 2014; Mashreky et al., 2013; Shahnaz et al., 2017; Begum et al., 2017). It is the 4th leading cause of overall injury-related deaths and 2nd important cause of injury associated death in the age groups of 20–39 years in Bangladesh (Mashreky et al., 2013). However, national suicide surveillance and nationwide study on suicide are yet to be happened in the country (Khan, 2005; Arafat, 2017; Shah et al., 2017; Chowdhury et al., 2018). Furthermore, it is still a criminal offence in the legal system of the country as well as there is paucity of researches on suicide in Bangladesh (Salam et al., 2017; Khan, 2005; Arafat, 2017; Shah et al., 2017; Suryadevara and Tandon, 2018). Author aimed to focus the gender distribution of suicide in Bangladesh.
Section snippets
Female versus male
Repeated studies reported, suicide is more common among females in Bangladesh which follows the opposite pattern in regards to the west albeit the exact male female ratio is yet be found. Previous research suggests the lower male female ratio in the sub-continent, however females are more dying by suicides in Bangladesh (Jordans et al., 2014; Arafat, 2017; Shahnaz et al., 2017). Jordan et al., found the ratio as 0.43:1 to 0.83:1 and other recent reviews also reported same gender distribution (
Conclusions
Suicide is a under attended problem in Bangladesh where the actual rate is yet to come out and quality data is a real challenge. Females are dying more than the males and early adulthood (20–30 years) is the most vulnerable time of life.
Funding
Self-funded.
Author’s contributions
The author has the sole contribution in every step of the study.
Conflict of interest
None.
Acknowledgement
Not applicable.
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