Important facts
Over 720,000 people die from suicide each year. Suicide is the third major cause of death among those aged 15-29. A series of suicides worldwide occur in low- and middle-income countries. Every suicide has many more people trying to commit suicide. Previous suicide attempts are an important risk factor for suicide in the general population.
overview
There are many more people who take their lives each year and try suicides. All suicides are tragedy affecting families, communities, and the entire country, and have long-term consequences for those left behind. Suicide occurred throughout life expectancy and was the third leading cause of death worldwide in 2021 among the ages of 15-29.
Suicides not only occur in high-income countries, but are also a global phenomenon in all parts of the world. In fact, nearly three-quarters of world suicides (73%) occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2021.
Suicide is a serious public health issue that requires public health response. Timely, evidence-based, often low-cost interventions can prevent suicide. A comprehensive multi-sector suicide prevention strategy is needed for the national response to be effective.
Who is at risk?
The relationship between suicide and mental disorders (particularly depression and alcohol use disorders) and previous suicide attempts is well established in high-income countries. However, many suicides occur impulsively at the moment of crisis, with the collapse of our ability to cope with life stress such as financial problems, relational conflicts, chronic pain and illness.
Furthermore, experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, loss and isolation is strongly associated with suicidal behavior. Suicide rates are also high among vulnerable groups experiencing discrimination, such as refugees and immigrants. Indigenous people; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) people. and the prisoner.
Prevention and control
There are several measures that can be taken at the population, subgroup, and individual levels to prevent suicide and self-harm. LiveLife, an initiative for suicide prevention, recommends the following important, effective evidence-based interventions:
Restrict access to suicide measures (such as pesticides, firearms, certain drugs, etc.). Dialogue with the media for responsible reporting of suicide. Identify, evaluate, manage and follow up with people affected by suicidal behavior.
These should work with the following foundational pillars, including situational analysis, multi-sector collaboration, awareness raising, capacity building, funding, surveillance, surveillance and assessment.
Suicide prevention efforts require coordination and cooperation between multiple sectors of society, including the health sector and other sectors, including education, labor, agriculture, business, justice, law, defense, politics, and the media. These efforts must be comprehensive and integrated, taking into account the multifaceted nature of suicide.
Challenges and obstacles
Stigma and taboos
Surrounding stigma, especially mental disorders and suicide, means that many people are thinking about taking their lives or those who have attempted suicide are not seeking help, and therefore are not getting the help they need. Suicide prevention has not been addressed properly due to the lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health issue in many societies to openly discuss it. To date, only 38 countries have included suicide prevention among their health priorities, and only 38 have reported having a national suicide prevention strategy.
Raising community awareness and breaking taboos is important for the nation to make progress in preventing suicide.
Data Quality
Globally, the availability and quality of data on suicide and self-harm is poor. Only about 80 member countries have important registered data of quality that can be used directly to estimate suicide rates. Although this issue with low-quality mortality data is not inherent to suicide, given the stigma surrounding suicide and the illegality of suicidal behavior in some countries, underreporting and misclassification could be a greater issue of suicide than most other causes of death.
Effective suicide prevention strategies require improved surveillance and monitoring of suicide and self-harm. International differences in patterns of suicide, as well as changes in suicide rates, characteristics, and methods, highlight the need to improve the inclusiveness, quality, and timeliness of suicide-related data. This includes nationally representative surveys gathering information about key enrollment of suicide, self-harmful self-harm, and self-reported self-paying information.
Who will respond
The urgency to action to prevent suicide is recognized and prioritized at the highest level. The decline in suicide rates is an indicator of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (the only indicator of mental health), who is a general work programme, and the comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2030.
Suicide Prevention: The Global Order’s first Who World Suicide Report aims to raise awareness of the importance of public health in suicide and attempted suicide, and to make suicide prevention a priority on the global public health agenda. It also aimed to encourage and strengthen countries to develop or strengthen comprehensive national suicide prevention strategies through multi-sector public health approaches.
In 2021, we launched a Live Life: Implementation Guide for Suicide Prevention. The accompanying resources to support the implementation of four major live interventions also include a 2024 pamphlet to prevent suicide by phased out highly dangerous pesticides, which will limit access to measures, prevent suicide, update resources for media experts, 2023 to encourage responsible reporting of suicides, and help support adolescents in childcare. At the health sector level, suicide/self-harm is one of the priorities of the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (MHGAP), which provides evidence-based technical guidance to expand the delivery of services and care of the nation for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. The MHGAP Intervention Guide (MHGAP-IG) includes specific modules for suicide and self-harm to support early identification, assessment, management and follow-up. Through the Live Life initiative, the government is encouraged and supported to implement a set of evidence-based interventions and foundational pillars for suicide prevention.
