XN000022-1997-04-09 — Page 24

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Suicide rate of the elderly

Following is a question by the Hon Allen Lee Peng-fei and a written reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

According to a survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong, the suicide rate of the elderly in Hong Kong ranks second in the world. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following:

(a)

(b)

(c)

the number of elderly persons who had committed suicide in the past five years together with a breakdown of these elderly persons by age and

sex:

the causes of the elderly suicides and the means by which such suicide. were committed; and

the measures adopted by the Government to reduce the occurrence of suicide cases involving elderly persons?

Reply:

(a)

The known suicide death figures of persons aged 65 and above by age and sex in the past 5 years are as follows:

Sex

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

Male

101

106

98

121

116

Female

86

109

101

102

94

Total

187

215

199

223

210

It is understood that the study which Hon Allen Lee refers to in his question is the one commissioned by Befrienders International. In their report published in February 1997, it is mentioned that the data on the international comparison of elderly suicide should be interpreted with care as they refer to different years and there may be differences in the age and gender distribution of the elderly population of the countries. being compared. It is therefore difficult to derive a firm conclusion from the data highlighted in the study that Hong Kong's elderly suicide rate is amongst the highest in the world.