The NGO “Médicos Unidos Venezuela” (MUV, United Doctors of Venezuela) pointed out that in Mérida suicide is a very serious public health problem and cannot be addressed as a social trend or by carrying out “operations” that do not have continuity over time.
Jesús Quintero // Lapatilla.com Correspondent
The MUV regional coordinator, Pedro Fernández, pointed out that: “these problems must be addressed through public policies designed and executed until a solution is obtained.”
The statement points out that in the state of Mérida suicide has been addressed laterally and only as the final consequence of a mental health problem, without taking into account the social, economic and cultural context of people who seek the path of self inflicted death.
Fernández affirmed that: “suicide as a public health problem does not only affect the person who decides to end its life, but also leaves a number of people affected in their environment, those who live in that same environment and are in danger of making the same decision.”
From Médicos Unidos Venezuela, Mérida chapter, they stated that: “it is public and notorious that even after the public awareness actions carried out such as painting cars and guarding the Miranda viaduct (a preferred bridge), the suicide rate in the entity has kept increasing.
They urge the authorities to fulfill their duty, and through truly efficient programs, promote activities with a scientific basis that allow the investigation of the risk factors that exist in Mérida and their relationship with the high incidence of suicides in this state.
In the month of July alone, there have been four cases of people who have chosen to end their lives as was registered, and it is truly alarming that the state of Mérida continues to lead the suicide rates in Venezuela.