TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian province will shut its 24-hour suicide hotline and replace it with one that operates only during business hours.
Prince Edward Island, a small province on Canada's East Coast, says it is too expensive to operate the hotline around the clock. Starting June 1, it will be open only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The plan drew protest from mental health groups across the country on Wednesday.
"How many times, when you get upset or worried or concerned about things, is it in the middle of the day? It's usually at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning when you wake up," said Joan Wright, executive director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention based in Edmonton, Alberta.
The hotline received about 1,400 calls a year and about 50 were from people contemplating suicide, health groups said.
"One of the things I was hearing is the government felt there weren't enough suicide-related calls," Wright said.
Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province with a population of about 137,000 people, is trying to tame its budget deficit. The hotline cost about C$30,000 ($24,000) a year to run.
"It's a very small amount of money in our view," said Reid Burke, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
"(Given) the economic cost of a suicide, if governments pay attention to dollars and numbers, not what happens to people, it just doesn't make sense."
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