QUOTE
A bill aimed at preventing suicides, to be sponsored by nonpartisan legislators, is set to be enacted during the current Diet session as the number of those who kill themselves is likely to surpass the 30,000 mark for the eighth-straight year, legislators said.
Representatives from the ruling coalition and opposition parties have agreed on the details of the bill tentatively named, "Basic Bill on Suicide Countermeasures."
A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization (NPO) had urged Diet members from both the ruling and opposition blocs to enact such a law while collecting signatures from citizens across the country supporting its campaign.
The bill regards suicide as something that society as a whole should work on to prevent rather than individuals' mental problems.
It would obligate the government to allocate funds from the state budget to finance suicide prevention measures.
Specifically, the bill would require the government to conduct research and gather information on suicide prevention, provide medical services for those who could potentially commit suicide, detect signs that people may try to commit suicide and prevent them from doing so. The government would also be obligated to provide mental care for those who survived suicide attempts and relatives of those who killed themselves, and support private organizations that are working toward the prevention of suicide.
In 2004, 32,325 people took their own lives, four times the number of traffic accident victims, according to the National Police Agency.
The average number of people who commit suicide in every 100,000 people in 2000 came to 24.1, twice the number compared to the United States and three times the figure in Britain, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry officials said.
Representatives from the ruling coalition and opposition parties have agreed on the details of the bill tentatively named, "Basic Bill on Suicide Countermeasures."
A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization (NPO) had urged Diet members from both the ruling and opposition blocs to enact such a law while collecting signatures from citizens across the country supporting its campaign.
The bill regards suicide as something that society as a whole should work on to prevent rather than individuals' mental problems.
It would obligate the government to allocate funds from the state budget to finance suicide prevention measures.
Specifically, the bill would require the government to conduct research and gather information on suicide prevention, provide medical services for those who could potentially commit suicide, detect signs that people may try to commit suicide and prevent them from doing so. The government would also be obligated to provide mental care for those who survived suicide attempts and relatives of those who killed themselves, and support private organizations that are working toward the prevention of suicide.
In 2004, 32,325 people took their own lives, four times the number of traffic accident victims, according to the National Police Agency.
The average number of people who commit suicide in every 100,000 people in 2000 came to 24.1, twice the number compared to the United States and three times the figure in Britain, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry officials said.
