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HIV-positive more likely to commit suicide

    JOHANNESBURG

    People living with HIV/AIDS require greater attention as they are more likely to commit suicide, South Africa's Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) has revealed.

    SADAG welcomed the government's decision to begin an intensive anti-AIDS drug rollout campaign, but said the more complex war against AIDS-related mental illness should come into sharper focus.

    The group said it was disappointed that President Thabo Mbeki had not mentioned this in his State of the Nation address last Friday.

    The CEO of SADAG, Zane Wilson, was quoted by the South African Press Association as saying: "Co-morbidity studies have shown that people living with HIV/AIDS are 36 times more likely to commit suicide, and the incidence of young people killing themselves has risen alarmingly."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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