July 15, 2022
Alcohol linked to higher Māori suicide rate
A ground-breaking study has found more than 26 per cent of all suicide deaths in this country involve acute alcohol use.
The University of Otago, Christchurch study, published in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal, is believed to be the first time coronial data has been used in this country to quantify the link between suicide deaths and acute alcohol use across the population.
Population groups that already have disproportionately higher suicide rates, including younger New Zealanders and Māori, have a higher proportion of suicide deaths involving alcohol.
Lead author Dr Rose Crossin says that highlights a substantial health equity issue and may reflect the multiple risk factors for hazardous alcohol use that disproportionately affect Māori and Pacific peoples, including neighbourhood availability of alcohol, experiences of discrimination and the effects of trauma.
She says those are issues requiring change at a population level, including immediate changes to Aotearoa New Zealand’s suicide prevention strategy and the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.