Fraser Valley/Victoria – The BC Coroners Service has published an updated report on suicide deaths in B.C. up to the end of 2017.
There were 572 deaths by suicide in 2017, down slightly from the previous three years, which all reported more than 600 deaths by suicide. More than half of those who died by suicide in 2017 were aged 30-59 years old and males accounted for three-quarters of all suicides in that year.
In the Fraser Valley/Fraser Health, there was a decline from 46 in 2016 to 37 in 2017. Abbotsford remains in the Top 10 and also recorded a decline from 17 to 15 – 2007 to 2017. Chilliwack numbers were not available.
Key findings of this report include:
- The three most common means of suicide death in 2017 were by hanging (225), involving firearms (97) and poisoning (84).
- The Northern Health Authority had the highest rate of suicide deaths (17.7 deaths per 100,000 individuals), followed by the Interior Health Authority (16.7 deaths per 100,000 individuals).
- Rates of suicide deaths are highest in the following health service delivery areas: Northeast (26.8 per 100,000 individuals), Kootenay Boundary (20.7 per 100,000 individuals), Thompson-Cariboo (18.6 per 100,000 individuals), East Kootenay (18.0 per 100,000 individuals) and Northern Interior (16.9 per 100,000 individuals).
- Almost 4% of the deaths involved children (aged 18 years or younger).
More information:
Suicide Deaths in B.C.: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/suicide.pdf
Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of BC: https://crisiscentre.bc.ca/
