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The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong (SBHK) (Chinese: 香港撒瑪利亞防止自殺會) is a non-government organisation. It is a local voluntary agency which provides counselling services to people with suicidal tendencies or behaviour. This organisation was the first of its kind in Asia.〔SBHK: Annual Report 1997, pp.3.〕 There are three centres under The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong: the 24-hour Hotline Centre (TOUCH), the Life Education Center (GROW), and the Suicide Crisis Intervention Center (ALIVE). They aim at providing personal consultation, group therapy and community education. Another work of SBHK is to provide suicide-related statistics to the public for them to be informed. It releases the number of calls received, the range of ages of help seekers, the distribution of the callers' districts, the common problems of people who have committed or attempt to commit suicide, and other information. ==Suicide rate in Hong Kong (1981–2005)== According to the figures of World Health Organization, the suicide rate of Hong Kong has been increasing in the recent years.〔." World Health Organization, 2005. Retrieved 1 November 2006.〕 Between 1981 and 2001, the Hong Kong annual suicide rate rose from 9.6 to 15 per 100,000 people.〔Community-wide effort needed to tackle suicide:South China Morning Post, 11 January 2006.〕 It even reached a high record in 2002 when 16.4 of every 100,000 people chose to commit suicide. This exceeded the global average of 14.5 suicides per 100,000.〔STELLA LEE:Suicide prevention gets boost,Hong Kong:South China Morning Post, 10 September 2003.〕 The relatively high suicide rate in 2002 may be due to that year's economic depression. However, SBHK chairman Wong Yao-wing articulated that the problem lies in whether there is enough support for the people in need of help.〔DONALD ASPREY:More seeking help from suicide hotline,Hong Kong:South China Morning Post, 9 July 2006.〕 Nevertheless, the suicide rate dropped to the global average in the past few years. There were about 1053 and 960 people committing suicide in 2004 and 2005 respectively which brought the suicide rate down from a peak of 18.6 per 100,000 people in 2003 to 14. Such a relatively dramatic decline could be attributed to greater awareness of suicide problems. The director of the center for Suicide Research and Prevention, Dr. Yip Siu-fai believed that there was a need to extend the support services available to those who are contemplating suicide.〔RAYMOND MA:HK suicide rate drops to global average:South China Morning Post,10 September 2006.〕 Dr. Yip also stated that the decrease of suicide rate had not been seen in Hong Kong before, which shows that suicide is preventable and people can help to improve the situation. He suggested that, to help those with potentially suicide-triggering illness, the government should add suicide prevention in the public issue of health policy.〔SIMON PARRY:Suicide rate dips to lowest in two decades:South China Morning Post, 28 April 2006.〕 The hotline centre of SBHK revealed that there were 14,688 help-seeking calls in 2005, which was 10.81% more than in 2004. Correspondingly, the suicide rate dropped by 18.5% from 2004 to 2005. It implies that Hong Kong people are becoming more willing to share their problems. Thus, the achievement of SBHK is generally recognised by the public.〔撒瑪利亞會年接1.4萬宗求助 元朗屯門天水圍居首 財絀 情困 悲情3區最多人自殺 :Wen Wei Po, 9 July 2006.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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