SUICIDE in Switzerland worth half of Africa's sustainable resources (schocking statistics)

neue zürcher zeitung ^ | Sept. 11, 2003 | neue zürcher zeitung

[Truth666]

In Switzerland numbers were finally released to allow computation of the contribution of suicide (inclusive attempts) to the Gross National Product (GDP) in

industrialised countries. According to this article of the leading newspaper that amounts to 1.8 Bill.$. This divided by 7.2 millions inhabitants gives 250 USD per capita.
http://www.nzz.ch/2003/09/11/english/page-synd4228138.html

[Truth666]

Higher than the Gross National Product per capita in Mozambique ($230) and Angola ($220).
http://www.clickafrique.com/Reference.asp?param=GDPCapita
Keep in mind : Mozambique and Angola represent together approx. 45% the sustainable agricultural area in Africa (South Africa excepted).

[visualops]

You shouldn't change the headline of an article.
Your altered title is poor English. It sounds as if there's a profit involved. Costs don't "contribute" to the GNP. Additionally, the article doesn't even mention Africa.
The real headline makes sense:
Suicide costs Switzerland billions of francs
Suicide and suicide attempts are costing Switzerland almost SFr2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) a year, according to a new study.

[novacation]

Do they try and kill themselves by swallowing money?

[visualops]

Actually it's more like that TV ad: guy on a stretcher in the ER, headed to surgery because he has money "out the wazoo".

[Yeti]

From th article:

Experts say there is no single explanation for Switzerland’s higher suicide rate, which accounts for ten to 15 per cent of deaths among young men.

That is shocking. That's like 1000 times the rate for young American white men, last I checked.

I wouldn't drink the water or watch TV in Switzerland.

[Truth666]

Probably. The swedish media also claims that the suspect of Lindh's murder tried to commit suicide by eating his clothes. Not choking, pardon, not joking.

[Truth666]

about poor english : excuse me, you're right. Correction for schoking : choking, joking, I meant shocking.

[Truth666]

about title : or I should have included in the source the African GDP statistics.

[Truth666]

About It sounds as if there's a profit involved. Costs don't "contribute" to the GNP :
GNP isn't about profit, it's just about what has been transactioned. Costs are part of it. For instance the garbage industry.
But I did found 2 errors in my title concerning the "worth half" (or better, 45%) numbers. Anyone can see where is the error ?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Thanks for straightening that out. Now I get it.

[Truth666]

I agree, that is shocking.
And another shocking title could be :

Assisted suicide required to contain suicide costs

excerpt : Ludwig Minelli, the Society's secretary general and head of Dignitas, one of the four organisations offering assisted suicide in Switzerland, is calling for an information campaign to raise awareness of the problem.
“If one has the possibility to prevent not only the costs but also the situation of these people, I feel we have an obligation to do it,” Minelli told swissinfo.
Minelli said that the authorities should do more and believes that a poster campaign, similar to the recent Stop Aids campaign, would help cut suicide attempts.
According to Minelli, the emphasis should be on prevention, which could be achieved by informing people that the classic means of ending a life, such as car fumes and pills, no longer work.

[jocon307]

That really is a whacked-out stat. Is is possible they are counting some deaths as suicide that we don't, like drug overdoses or "death by misadventure"?

[Prodigal Son]

Suicide and suicide attempts are costing Switzerland almost SFr2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) a year, according to a new study.

Activists are calling for a campaign to help prevent suicide in a country where three times as many people take their own lives as die in road accidents.

The study was released on Thursday by the Swiss Society for the European Convention on Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation.

It found that costs to authorities, insurance companies and hospitals totalled an estimated SFr65 million for suicides and SFr2.369 billion for suicide attempts.

Although they have recently fallen, suicide rates remain higher in Switzerland than in many other European countries.

In 1999 there were an estimated 1,350 suicides, compared with 516 road deaths.

Experts say the tally of attempted suicides could run as high as 67,000 per year.

Raising awareness
Ludwig Minelli, the Society's secretary general and head of Dignitas, one of the four organisations offering assisted suicide in Switzerland, is calling for an information campaign to raise awareness of the problem.

“If one has the possibility to prevent not only the costs but also the situation of these people, I feel we have an obligation to do it,” Minelli told swissinfo.

Minelli said that the authorities should do more and believes that a poster campaign, similar to the recent Stop Aids campaign, would help cut suicide attempts.

According to Minelli, the emphasis should be on prevention, which could be achieved by informing people that the classic means of ending a life, such as car fumes and pills, no longer work.

He also feels that there should be greater possibilities for suicidal people to talk about their problems with counsellors.

Assisted suicide
Experts say there is no single explanation for Switzerland’s higher suicide rate, which accounts for ten to 15 per cent of deaths among young men.

But the country has one of the most tolerant attitudes towards assisted suicide in Europe.

Four organisations offer assisted suicide, among them Dignitas, which also offers its services to terminally ill foreigners, and Exit.

The report’s author, Peter Holenstein, was himself director of Exit from 1997-1998.

Minelli insists the report has nothing to do with his work with Dignitas and says the most important thing is that the problem is discussed in Switzerland.

“Suicide has always been treated as a taboo and 67,000 attempted suicides are a problem that has to be discussed in society,” he said.

swissinfo, Billi Bierling and Isobel Johnson

[tictoc]

visualops said it.

Truth666, you need to think about it.

[Truth666]

even more shocking, but too long

"Assisted Suicide" poster campaign, similar to the recent "Stop Aids" campaign required to reduce suicide costs

[Truth666]

it just stops short of saying that those posters should also be hung outside Catholic churches ... transcription :
it was to have been hung outside Catholic churches.
The offending poster, which was published primarily in German, read: "Dear Father, if Rome doesn't want you to talk about contraception, then talk about condoms instead."
http://l005sys0.nzz.ch/2003/04/24/english/page-synd1781502.html

[Yeti]

Is is possible they are counting some deaths as suicide that we don't, like drug overdoses or "death by misadventure"?

Possible, jocon. But "suicide epidemics" are a real, if fairly rare, phenomenon. From the looks of what truth666 is posting, it would seem that Switzerland is seeing what happens when media technology and dark profiteers help the phenomenon along.

Somewhat allegorical to the way "AIDS prevention" money has been used in covoluted ways to actually promote the behavior that leads to AIDS, rather than prevent it.

It strikes me as perpetrating a much larger evil than just the prima facia, victim by victim, destructiveness of it.

Anyway, it's hard to see how an assisted suicide company can maintain its consumer base for long...

[Allan]

I am schocked! schocked! to learn that there is suicide going on in Switzerland!

[Truth666]

Somewhat allegorical to the way "AIDS prevention" money has been used in covoluted ways to actually promote the behavior that leads to AIDS, rather than prevent it.
One of a hundred types of posters that have been hung all over Switzerland (also in english ...) :
The complete list here (6 pages):
http://www.stopaids.ch/d/plakate_d_06.html#

[Truth666]

Anyone can see where is the error I mentioned above?