Indigenous suicide in Brazil, the self-killing of a vulnerable population

Abstract

Introduction One of the Sustainable Development Goals is to promote mental health. It is then mandatory to know the death profile of this population and to develop public policies to reduce it. Methods Epidemiological descriptive study regarding the proportion of indigenous deaths according to the variables: age group, year of occurrence, gender, region, municipality and ICD-10 category, in the period 2008 to 2017 in Brazil, using data from the national database DATASUS. Results From 2008 to 2017, there were 5,489 indigenous deaths due to external causes in Brazil, with 1,107 (20.1%) due to self-caused lesions. The annual average was 110.7 cases per year: 100 in 2008, 95 in 2009, 93 in 2010, 97 in 2011, 90 in 2012, 113 in 2013, 117 in 2014, 132 in 2015, 120 in 2016, and 150 in 2017. Regarding causes, strangling/hanging/suffocation were 979 (88.4%), self-intoxication was 31 (2.8%) with other chemicals and 21 (1.8%) with pesticides. Regarding age group, 365 (32.9%) were between 15 to 19 years old, 325 (29.3%) between 20 to 29, 150 (13.5%) between 30 to 39, 131 (11.8%) between 10 to 14, and 136 (12.2%) in other age groups. Regarding gender, 807 (72.9%) were male, 299 (27.0%) were female, and 1 (0.09%) was ignored. Regarding region, the Northern Region had 575 (51.9%) cases and the Central-Western Region had 403 (36.4%) cases. The municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira was the one with the highest amount of cases: 132 (12.7%). Conclusions The 50% increase in the amount of deaths by suicide among indigenous people in the analyzed period reveals the infficacy of established public policies in Brazil. The number of deaths among the youth reveals the community trauma of exploration, violence and dignity loss. The Nothern and Central-Western regions had conflicts due to land demarcation and prospecting, which explain the high rates. The reduction of such tragedy demands capacitation of all the public spheres. Key messages Evaluate the aspects that promote it and to propose effective interventions in environments of difficult access and in a historically vulnerable population. Discuss some relevant characteristics among natives who are vulnerable to practicing self-made injuries, in order to make it possible to create new ways to protect this population.