Suicide in Minnesota: More data will mean more effective prevention efforts
The Star Tribune reported earlier this week that Minnesota's suicide rate jumped 29 percent between 2003 and 2011 -- twice the national rate of increase.
NewsCut's Bob Collins wrote about the findings:
Suicide has been the second leading cause of the death of young people in Minnesota for decades, a fact we've carefully avoided discussing at the insistence of experts who say doing so will only cause more. That plan isn't working.
As it stands, the state has only a spotty understanding of who is committing suicide and why, and it's raising efforts to track that data. The Department of Health will begin that work on Jan. 1.
Health officials think more information will lead to more targeted and more effective prevention efforts. MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Jon Roesler, an Epidemiologist Supervisor with the state about the matter.
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