EditorialRise in Hong Kong elderly suicides needs to be addressed
- With a record number of elderly suicides last year, there is no time to waste in addressing the issue of loneliness felt by many of our older citizens and finding ways to make the city a friendlier and safer place for them
The phrase “count your age by friends, not years” that is often used in birthday cards may also help guide Hong Kong families and authorities to counter a rise in elderly suicides in the city. The demands of our rapidly ageing society should support a concern group’s recent call for more healthcare workers and greater efforts focused on keeping elderly citizens connected, particularly with younger people.
Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong made the appeal on July 29 while releasing its annual analysis of Coroner’s Court statistics.
The suicide prevention group found 1,080 people took their own lives in 2022, a 15-year high. About 44 per cent or 477 of the suicides were in the 60-plus age group, more than in any year since records were first kept in 1973.
Most of those cases involved people aged 70 or above.
The group’s executive director Clarence Tsang Chin-kwok said the elderly suicide rate has risen as the demographic had grown, but he voiced concerns about the elderly receiving less family support as people tend to have fewer children who then move away after marrying. The recent wave of emigration also leaves elderly relatives behind, adding to their loneliness.