The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) released a report titled “Socio-Economic costs of Suicide in Tamil Nadu”. The report was released by Thiru. Ma Subramanian, Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu in the presence of Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras. Tamil Nadu ranks second in the country by the number of suicides with the estimated total cost of the suicides in the state being Rs. 29,167.79 crores in 2021.
Unveiling the report, Thiru. Ma Subramanian, Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Tamil Nadu said, “There were 19,000 suicides in Tamil Nadu in 2021. To reduce the numbers, awareness and prevention are required. We launched the MaNaM scheme for the mental well-being of students in medical colleges. This report will help us value the lives lost due to suicides in order to further strengthen our suicide-prevention measures like Nammai Kakkum 48 insurance scheme. The state government has also banned six types of pesticides for 60 days as these were being used in suicide attempts.”
The key findings from this report include:
- – The total socio-economic cost of suicides was Rs. 29,167.79 crores in Tamil Nadu
- – Each suicide was estimated to cost a total of Rs. 1,29,01,495.35
- – Suicides account for 1.3 per cent of gross state domestic product (GSDP)
- – The economic cost of each suicide was Rs. 83,42,227.51
- – The economic Cost for short absences associated with suicides was Rs. 2,699.20 crores 2 699.20
- – The economic cost for long absence associated with suicides amounted to Rs. 2,052.6 crores
- – Production losses to the economy was estimated at Rs. 10,934.48 crores
- – Non-economic costs of suicides were estimated at Rs. 8,628.41 crores
Speaking on the occasion, Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “We have observed four causes for suicides among students – health issues, personal issues, academic issues and financial issues. At least one of these four plays a role in a suicide. It is often observed that one leads to another, thus making it a complex issue. We are working on reducing suicides on a campus like IIT Madras by working with students,
faculty and parents.”
Elaborating on the report, Professor Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, CoERS and RBG Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, who is coordinating this initiative, said, “Suicides, even if unsuccessful has an economic consequence, both for the family and the state. In this study, we estimated the socio-economic cost of suicides in the state of Tamil Nadu. We hope this first step of estimating the socio-economic costs could trigger structured and comprehensive policy interventions by the state.”
Speaking about the relevance of the study to tackling future suicides, Dr. Nijina M Nazar, Senior Project Scientist, RBG Labs, who is among this initiative’s leadership, said, “Although it is difficult to attribute a monetary value to human life, it may be vital in setting public health priorities in the state of Tamil Nadu. The research identified inadequacies in the availability of information and non-application of data in Tamil Nadu; we believe the recommendations will lead to reforms that will enable government agencies to evaluate effective initiatives, take remedial steps and develop new suicide prevention strategies.”