Taipei - Supermarkets and 24-hour convenience store chains in Taiwan, which has one suicide almost every two hours, have agreed to join in the government's suicide-prevention campaign, an official said on Thursday.
"Six supermarket chains and four convenience store chains have agreed to co-operate with us in preventing suicide," said Cheng Shu-hsin of the Department of Health.
"The Rxmart, which has 500 supermarkets, has modified its computer program, so that if a customer buys only charcoal, when he or she goes to the counter to pay, the cash register will flash a warning," she said.
"Then, the cashier will ask the customer, 'Are you buying charcoal for a barbecue? Why don't you buy meat?'
"If the customer expressed suicidal thoughts, the cashier would suggest the customer call a suicide-prevention hotline," she said.
The other supermarkets and convenience stores are planning to find their own ways to join in the suicide-prevention effort - either by asking cashiers to talk to customers who buy only charcoal or by printing suicide-prevention warnings on their promotion sheets.
Burning charcoal, which produces toxic fumes, is one of the common methods used in committing suicide in Taiwan.
Taiwan has one of the highest suicide rates in Asia. In 2008, 4 128 people ended their lives.
To prevent suicide, the Department of Health has started a 24-hour hotline and has printed the hotline's phone number and warnings on the outside of charcoal packages.
