International Suicide Prevention Week
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S2M-1578, in the name of Duncan McNeil, on international suicide prevention week. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament acknowledges the importance of International Suicide Prevention Week from 5 to 11 September 2004 for raising awareness of this cause of death; recognises that more people die as a result of suicide than from traffic accidents; commends the work being done by Choose life, Scotland's strategy aimed at reducing suicides by 20% over the next 10 years; welcomes the introduction to Scotland of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, helping develop more effective approaches to both identifying and assisting those most at risk of suicide, and looks forward to this suicide-reduction work continuing at a national and local level.
My microphone does not appear to have come on.
Speak and I think that it will happen.
Are you suggesting that I do not need the microphone?
I thank the members who have signed the motion and those who have made time to attend the first ever members' business debate in the new chamber. Before anyone else suggests it, I say that there is no connection between the subject matter of the debate and the entirely unrelated fact that it is my birthday.
When we look seriously at the issue of suicide, our own worries suddenly seem much less important. When I spoke in the last members' business debate before we handed our temporary lodgings back to our theological landlords, I reflected that it was appropriate to ask, "Why are we here?" Today, in the first members' business debate in our new building, members might well ask the same question. I will tell the Parliament why we are here—
I am very sorry to have to do this to you, Mr McNeil, but I have to interrupt you as the system seems to have failed. I have to suspend the meeting for a few minutes to see whether we can fix it—I am sure that it has nothing to do with your debate.
Meeting suspended.
On resuming—
I ask members to reinsert their cards and we will start again. You have seven minutes, Mr McNeil.
Are we up and running? I will take it from the top. The only regret is that—this will be confirmed or not tomorrow morning—the story tomorrow will not be about the number of suicides in Scotland but will be about the fact that the microphones broke down.
To those who continually tell us to raise the game, perhaps we can send the message that the real debate tonight is about international suicide prevention week. I thank all those members who have signed the motion and who have made time to attend the first ever members' business debate in the new chamber.
When one looks seriously at the issue of suicide, one's own worries suddenly seem a lot less important. When I spoke in the last members' business debate before we handed our temporary lodgings back to our theological landlords, I reflected that it was appropriate to ask, "Why are we here?" Today, in the first members' business debate in our new building, members might well ask the same question.
Well, I will tell members why we are here. We are here because the biggest killer of young men in Scotland is neither a blade nor a car but their own hand. According to the Samaritans, although suicide rates in England and Wales fell over the 10 years up to 2002, they rose in Scotland. The latest figures show that people in Scotland are twice as likely to kill themselves as people in the rest of the UK are. Although I welcome the fact that the numbers are now falling, suicide is still the main cause of death for men aged 15 to 44. Indeed, according to the Registrar General for Scotland, almost three quarters of those who committed suicide last year were male.
The reasons are many and varied; they are medical, cultural and social. They include mental health problems that are brought about or are made worse by drug abuse; the lack of a role for men in our society and the tendency to blame young working-class men for just about everything; unemployment or financial worries; a stressful living environment; the inability to come to terms with homosexuality or the fear of doing so; and a reluctance to seek help from a health service that is neither designed to meet, nor particularly sympathetic to, men's needs.
So what do we do about the situation? We cannot eliminate stress, money worries or setbacks from modern life. No matter how tough we are, the war on drugs will not be won overnight. Moreover, although we must carry on working to tackle stigma over mental health and to end prejudice about homosexuality, we cannot continue with the waste of young lives until that work is done.
If we are going to end Scotland's suicide shame and take long-term action to address the root causes that can be addressed, we also need to better equip young men to deal with the difficulties that they will face. Given our reluctance to seek help, we need more people in our communities who are trained to spot the early signs and to step in to prevent suicide.
That is why I believe that the Executive is to be commended for initiatives such as the choose life strategy, which is aimed at reducing suicides by 20 per cent over the next 10 years, and the introduction of applied suicide intervention skills training. I also welcome the fact that, through the choose life initiative, every local authority will by the end of the year have trained staff accredited with such intervention skills. I do not intend to detain members at length with the details of those schemes, because I am sure that the minister will ably highlight the Executive's work in his response.
However, I would like to urge the Executive to push on with its efforts to meet and exceed its targets. In particular, as far as the Health Department is concerned, we should examine how we can change the NHS to ensure that it is more responsive to men's needs. Does the way in which we treat depression need to be revisited? Do we provide adequate health education in this area? We will need to answer those questions and others if we are to end the scandal of young men feeling that they have so little to live for and so little hope that their only way out is to take their own lives.
As a considerable number of back benchers wish to speak in the debate, I will be strict about the four-minute limit.
I am afraid that I must interrupt you, as the sound system has failed.
Meeting suspended.
On resuming—
I regret that I have to close this meeting of the Parliament. The Presiding Officers and the business managers will meet tomorrow and I hope that we will be able to continue with the debate tomorrow at lunch time. Members will obviously be informed of our decision. I regret what has happened, but we are all experiencing teething troubles. I thank members very much for their attention.
Meeting closed at 17:26.