Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Sep 16/98) - The chief coroner for the NWT says more has to be done to decrease the number of suicides in Nunavut, a rate seven times the national average.

In a coroner's report for the suicide of an 18-year-old Baker Lake youth who died earlier this year, Percey Kinney recommends the Department of Education develop regular suicide awareness and prevention training for school curriculum.

"There are lots of efforts out there...it's not like the government hasn't done anything," he said. "But at the end of the day, our office hasn't seen a decline. It's an epidemic."

With statistics showing that 18 suicides have taken place in the NWT since Jan. 1, 1998, and 16 of them in Nunavut, Kinney says the problem is definitely more serious in the Eastern Arctic.

While he feels that making a prevention program mandatory may be radical, he sees it as entirely necessary.

"We all recognize that this is a crisis," he added.

Territorial Education Minister Charles Dent said that suicide prevention training is already part of the school curriculum.

"Obviously, we support the recommendation," he said. "But this is something already part of the curriculum for health from kindergarten to Grade 8 students."

While Grade 8 students receive suicide prevention training, there is really little emphasis placed on suicide prevention in the higher grades.

Statistics show that the group most at risk of committing suicide is ages 15-30.

Curtis Brown, director of the Kivalliq Divisional Board of Education, is unaware of suicide prevention training outside the Grade 8 curriculum. He, too, sees the need for more emphasis.

"Given the stats, it certainly wouldn't hurt to put more emphasis," he said.

And while there are resources available for people in crisis, Brown said there just isn't enough funding for schools to do more in this area.

"With the funding the government currently provides for health and education, there's just not enough money to fill our needs," he said. "There's never enough resources, but if there were more, a lot could go toward preventative work."

A suicide prevention training workshop is scheduled to take place in Iqaluit at the end of the month.