Judge Neil MacLean, the Chief Coroner informed `The Press' that more people die because of suicide than road accidents. He said that the total number of suicide cases in New Zealand is 540 per year, which is
50% more than the road crashes.

Peter Dunne, Associate Health Minister said that he feels sympathetic about the subject and will definitely bring up this issue in the next suicide prevention meeting.

Dunne added, "I am very open to what he is saying. We need to take away the `mystery' of suicide without sensationalising or glorifying it".

Gregory Fortuin, the Founding Chairman of the Youth Suicide Awareness Trust states that the present rules and regulations regarding the media's reporting of suicides are not completely true. He also said that since the formation of this trust, the suicide rates have been too low.

Many of `The Press' subscribers have mentioned their own sad stories of suicide cases that have happened within their family and have demanded greater awareness on this issue. They say that this sensitive topic should be handled with utmost care.

It is worth mentioning that national suicide death rate was reported to be 12.2 per 100,000 people during the period 2002-2006.