Alaska Native suicide rates remain high

Tuesday, April 10, 2007  

Suicide rates among Alaska Natives have not dropped despite nearly two decades of state and tribal efforts, according to a new report.

In 2004, the Alaska Native suicide rate was 58 per 100,000. That's the highest rate since 1986.

In 2005, the rate went up to 52 per 100,000. It dropped slightly in 2006 to 42 per 100,000.

"It's a crisis, and if we don't start doing something really soon, it's only going to get worse," Bill Martin, the chairman of the Alaska Statewide Suicide Prevention Council chairman, told The Anchorage Daily News.

Factors that contribute to suicide include alcoholism, drugs, unemployment and isolation.

Get the Story:
Suicide plagues Natives (The Anchorage Daily News 4/10)
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Alaska Report:
Alaska Suicide Follow-back Study (February 2007)

$rl Alaska Statewide Suicide Prevention Council - http://www.hss.state.ak.us/suicideprevention

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