Of course, suicides can be effectively prevented in China's countryside if more proactive, people-oriented measures are taken. For example, agricultural policies issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, such as the new rural cooperative medical system, can help prevent senior citizens in rural areas from attempting suicide. It is necessary, therefore, for governments at all levels to implement similar measures, aimed at providing more benefits for senior citizens, especially those above the age of 70.

In addition, suicide prevention measures should be made an important criterion to evaluate central and local governments' contribution to social construction. Better welfare for elderly people in rural areas, which is critical to the improvement of overall public well-being, can be guaranteed by local governments, and a well-run accountability mechanism will surely compel them to ensure that it is.

Also, legal assistance is required to protect the rights and interests of elderly people, particularly those who seek legal protection instead of ending their lives when unfairly treated. Since an increasing number of senior citizens are committing suicide because of the treatment meted out to them by their unfilial children, it is important to promote filial piety as a traditional social value and prompt the younger generation to respect and follow it.

Moreover, mutual support among senior citizens in the countryside, which will create a more optimistic atmosphere for the elderly, can reduce the number of suicides.

Local officials should, therefore, make greater efforts to enrich the spiritual culture of rural associations by, for instance, giving elderly people greater opportunities to voice their opinions on public affairs.

The author is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Wuhan University, and director of the youth project, Sociological Research of Elder's Suicide in Rural China, supported by the National Social Science Fund of China.

(China Daily 08/06/2014 page9)