FINAL WHISTLE

Kiwis farewell Colin Meads

The number of people taking their own lives in New Zealand is continuing to rise, with men and Maori featuring well above the national average.

Figures released yesterday by Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall show men are dying by suicide at a ratio of three men to one woman.

The provisional statistics found 606 Kiwis took their own life in the 2016-17 year, up from 579 the previous year and 564 the year before that.

It was the third year in a row the number has increased and the 2016-17 figure was the highest since the coroner’s annual provisional suicide statistics were first recorded in 2007-08.

Men and Maori were highly represented in the figures, both featuring suicide rates well above the national average.

Some 457 men committed suicide in 2016-17, a rate of 19.36 per 100,000 – up from 409 and 17.71 per 100,000 the previous year. The number of Maori who died by suicide in 2016-17 was 130 and 21.73 per 100,000. That number has been sitting at this level since 2014-15.

The 20 to 24-year-old age group recorded the highest number of suicide deaths at 79, including 61 men.

Canterbury recorded the highest number of suicides out of any other district health board in the country, with 79 deaths – one higher than the previous year. The next closest was Waitemata and Southern on 52 each.

Mental health advocate and comedian Mike King called for everyone involved in the suicide prevention industry in New Zealand to be fired.

‘‘They are so out of touch, they should be fired, every single one of them ... They are failing to do their job.’’

King resigned from the government-led suicide prevention panel earlier this year, calling the suicide prevention draft plan ‘‘deeply flawed’’.

He said suicide was not a Maori problem but a New Zealand problem,

"They are so out of touch, they should be fired, every single one of them ... They are failing to do their job."

Mental health advocate Mike King on the suicide prevention industry

and as soon as people realised that the issue might be resolved.

‘‘Suicide is not about race, it’s about people.’’

The new figures have led to calls for more to be done to reduce the number of people taking their own lives.

Marshall said New Zealand had much to do to turn around its ‘‘stubbornly high’’ rate of suicide.

She said it was important to acknowledge that people were taking their own lives, but that was only part of the conversation needed about suicide in the community.

‘‘What is equally important is our discussion around how we can prevent suicides and how everyone – family, friends and colleagues – is able to recognise someone at risk and ensure they get the professional help they need.’’

Director of mental health Dr John Crawshaw said the figures indicated work must continue to bring down the unacceptably high number of suicides.

‘‘Suicide has a devastating ripple effect across communities ... The impacts of suicide on all our lives are long lasting and profound. While some progress has been made, more needs to be done,’’ Crawshaw said.

He said work was being done on the Ministry’s of Health’s draft strategy on suicide prevention.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said one suicide was too many and the issue was a whole-of-society problem.

The Government’s $100 million social investment fund for mental health would invest in a range of initiatives designed to improve access to mental health services, he said.