BUENOS AIRES, Sept 19 — Bereaved relatives and mental health specialists are trying to start a conversation about suicide in Argentina as more people than ever are choosing to end their own lives.

Suicide is currently the leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 34 in the South American country, according to data from the Criminal Policy Observatory (OPC) and the security ministry.

Suicide rates in Argentina — 11.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants — are lower than in neighboring Uruguay, which has recorded 19.16 per 100,000 inhabitants.

But recently surging numbers have caused alarm.

Last year, the OPC recorded a 57.6 percent increase in suicide since 2017, and a 22.6 percent increase since the year before.

The publication of the latest data prompted dozens of bereaved relatives to protest in Buenos Aires over the weekend.

The demonstration aimed to “raise awareness about suicide, because talking is prevention,” Graciela Salazar, whose daughter took her own life in 2023, told AFP.

“Suicide has multiple causes,” said demonstrator Ariana Villarreal, whose brother died by suicide 11 years ago.

“There is a historical debt when it comes to mental health in Argentina,” she added, referring to the meager state budget allocated to mental wellbeing.

The Argentine Association of Mental Health (AASM) also voiced concern over “a serious public health and social situation.”

Suicide is “a complex phenomenon” that should not be reduced “to a single explanation or to establishing linear causal relationships,” it stated.

“But it would be just as irresponsible to ignore the social, economic and professional conditions…in which suffering occurs,” it added, citing job losses, growing insecurity and debt.

The organisation called for “urgent responses to the underlying problems and immediate public policies for suicide prevention.”

Argentina’s northeastern Corrientes province recently approved a resolution urging the government to take measures to prevent suicide on a bridge where numerous incidents have been recorded.

The resolution called for authorities to install barriers, reinforce lighting and video surveillance, and place emergency phones on the bridge over the Parana River.

Since 2023, the Angels of the Bridge organisation has ensured that volunteers are present at the site 24 hours a day.

“That’s already 341 lives rescued,” the organisation recently wrote on Instagram. — AFP

* If you are lonely, distressed, or having negative thoughts, Befrienders offers free and confidential support 24 hours a day. A full list of Befrienders contact numbers and state operating hours is available here: www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia. There are also free hotlines for young people: Talian Kasih at 15999 (24/7); Talian BuddyBear at 1800-18-2327(BEAR)(daily 12pm-12am); Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Life Line Association Malaysia helpline at 15995 and Jakim’s Family, Social and Community Care Centre (WhatsApp 0111-959 8214).