Suicidal Behaviour in Europe (eBook)

Foreword 6
Table of Contents 8
Preface 12
Part I Introduction 14
The Suicide Situation in Europe and Suicide Prevention Within the Framework of the WHO Programme “ Health for All by the Year 2000” 16
The WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour 20
Definitions and Terminology Used in the WHO/ EURO Multicentre Study 24
Suicide and Suicide Attempts in Europe 28
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Suicide Attempters in Europe 42
Part II Results in the Individual Countries 58
Northern Europe 60
Suicidal Behaviour in Finland 62
Suicidal Behaviour in Norway 70
Suicidal Behaviour in Sweden 82
Suicidal Behaviour in Denmark 98
Central Europe 108
Suicidal Behaviour in Ireland 110
Suicidal Behaviour in Belgium 120
Suicidal Behaviour in Austria 126
Suicidal Behaviour in England and Wales 136
Suicidal Behaviour in France 146
Suicidal Behaviour in The Netherlands 154
Suicidal Behaviour in Germany 160
Suicidal Behaviour in Switzerland 170
Eastern Europe 178
Suicidal Behaviour in Lithuania 180
Suicidal Behaviour in Slovenia 184
Suicidal Behaviour in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbia and Montenegro) 190
Suicidal Behaviour in the Ukraine 198
Suicidal Behaviour in Hungary 202
Suicidal Behaviour in Estonia 208
Suicidal Behaviour in Latvia 214
Southern Europe 218
Suicidal Behaviour in Spain (Basque Country) 220
Suicidal Behaviour in Italy 224
Suicidal Behaviour in Greece 232
Other Participating Centres 236
Suicidal Behaviour in Turkey 238
Suicidal Behaviour in Israel 246
Invited Papers 252
Suicidal Behaviour in Asturias (Spain) 254
Suicidal Behaviour in Poland 262
Part III Future Perspectives 266
The WHO/EURO Network on Suicide Prevention 268
Appendices 286
Suicide Preventive Organisations in Europe 288
Contributors 294
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Suicidal Behaviour in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) (p. 177-178)

Description of the catchment area The city of Novi Sad is located in the north of Yugoslavia (and Serbia), spread out in the Pannonian plains on both sides of the river Danube. It lies about 100 km south of Hungary, 150 km west of Romania and about 40 km east of Croatia. It is the provincial capital of Vojvodina, Serbia’s northern province, populated by about 2 million people. It is also the economic, administrative and educational centre of the region. The population of Novi Sad itself is about 300,000. For more than 40 years Novi Sad has been a university centre, today comprising of nearly 20 various faculties with about 30,000 students. Novi Sad is the second largest city (next to Belgrade) of present Yugoslavia, not only in population, but also in the economic sense. Besides agriculture, which is one of the major areas of economiy, it is also a big industrial centre.

The health care system has, as in the whole country, undergone some very turbulent changes in recent years. A decade ago, in former Yugoslavia, it was entirely state managed, with no private practice possibilities and with health insurance that entitled full health coverage, which meant that everything (medication, inpatient and outpatient care) was free of charge for the individual. In the following years, with all the social upheavals and deteriorating economy, the health care system also changed significantly – for the worse. Private practices appeared and developed, while the public health deteriorated in quality, since the state lacked funds to support it. Fewer services were available through public health care, while private practices are not covered by health insurance of any kind, so the individual has to pay for them in full. The supply of medications in state owned hospitals and pharmacies has also decreased over the last decade, again for the same reasons, shortage of money. As the result, many privately owned pharmacies started up, offering a full range of medications (again, without the coverage of health insurance). Private pharmacies sell drugs without medical prescription and verbal requests for drugs, including all psychopharmaceuticals, are sufficient. This means, in practice, that even a teenager or a child can get sedatives or hypnotics just like any over-the-counter drug. Currently, the state is making an effort to eradicate this practice, but unless the overall situation of the state health care system and drug supply improves, this is not likely to happen.

In terms of outpatient health care, there are nearly 50 outpatient health centres in the municipality of Novi Sad. They offer services of general practitioners, as well as specialists in nearly all branches of medicine. Inpatient services are all grouped in a single Clinical Centre, with a capacity of about 1200 beds, consisting of various specialized units. The second inpatient facility is the Military Hospital, and contains almost a couple of hundred beds, mostly for patients with surgical and internal medical problems.