Taiwanese universities, government agencies scramble to address rising death toll

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/17
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The death of a young man on Tuesday (Nov. 17) marks the sixth suspected suicide incident involving a college student in Taiwan in the past nine days, prompting university administrators and government agencies to scramble for answers.

On Tuesday, a male National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) student was found to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, marking the sixth probable suicide attempt and fifth death by apparent suicide since a National Taiwan University (NTU) student plunged to her death on Nov. 9. In response, Taiwan Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) urged all schools to connect more closely with students in need of counseling.

According to statistics from suicide hotline Taiwan Lifeline International, there were 570,000 calls last year, but only 190,000 were connected. This connection rate of just 33 percent means the missed call rate is alarmingly high. Legislators are now calling on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to address the issue and conduct a review.    [FULL  STORY]