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Each year, nearly 900,000 deaths worldwide are attributed to suicide, which accounts for more deaths than homicides and wars combined, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed the tragic statistics on Saturday, one day ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10.

The number is believed to be largely underestimated since suicide as a cause of death is underreported, WHO said. According to the organization’s report, pesticide ingestion is one of the leading suicide methods which is particularly significant in rural areas, especially in some Asian countries.

It is estimated that in the last decade from 60 percent to 90 percent of suicides in China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad were due to pesticide ingestion. More recently, WHO received reports of a growing number of suicides due to pesticide ingestion in many other countries in Asia, as well as in countries in Central and South America.

In its report WHO recommended control of access to pesticides, which are all too often easily accessible and stored without any precautions in most rural households. The organization also called for an urgent need to train and equip primary healthcare personnel in places where pesticide poisoning is frequent.

Russia currently foresees a tendency for a decline in suicide deaths, the federal statistics service recently revealed. If compared to 1995 when the suicide death toll hit its maximum of 61,100 people, the lower number of 49,000 people in 2004 reveals a noticeable decrease. Pundits say improved economic conditions played a key role in the decrease of suicide deaths.