Three years after the decriminalisation of attempted suicide, the Madani government has reaffirmed its commitment to mental health with the launch of the National Suicide and Fatal Injury Registry Malaysia (NSFIRM) and the Postvention Services Guidelines.
Before NSFIRM, Malaysia lacked a comprehensive, systematic registry of suicide deaths and attempts. At the early stage of an investigation, a suspected suicide might be classified as “sudden death”.
While the law mandates full investigation into all “sudden death” cases, differences in reporting and investigation practices and the stigma surrounding suicide have made it difficult to build a complete picture of suicide in Malaysia.
NSFIRM can help draw this picture through systematic analysis and incident trend monitoring.
