World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003. The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) to host World Suicide Prevention Day. In 2011 an estimated 40 countries held awareness events to mark the occasion. According to WHO's Mental Health Atlas released in 2014, no low-income country reported having a national suicide prevention strategy, while less than 10% of lower-middle income countries, and almost a third of upper-middle and high-income countries had.
On its first event in 2003, the 1999 WHO's global suicide prevention initiative is mentioned with regard to the main strategy for its implementation, requiring: "The organisation of global, regional and national multi-sectoral activities to increase awareness about suicidal behaviours and how to effectively prevent them." "The strengthening of countries's capabilities to develop and evaluate national policies and plans for suicide prevention."
As of recent WHO releases, challenges represented by social stigma, the taboo to openly discuss suicide, and low availability of data are still to date obstacles leading to poor data quality for both suicide and suicide attempts: "given the sensitivity of suicide – and the illegality of suicidal behaviour in some countries – it is likely that under-reporting and misclassification are greater problems for suicide than for most other causes of death."
Background
An estimated one million people per year die by suicide or about one person in 10,000 (1.4% of all deaths), or "a death every 40 seconds or about 3,000 every day". As of 2004 the number of people who die by suicide is expected to reach 1.5 million per year by 2020.
On average, three male suicides are reported for every female one, consistently across different age groups and in almost every country in the world. "Conversely, rates of suicide attempts tend to be 2-3 times higher in women than in men, although the gender gap has narrowed in recent years." More people die from suicide than from murder and war; it is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide. According to WHO there are twenty people who have a suicide attempt for every one that is fatal, at a rate approximately one every three seconds. Suicide is the "most common cause of death for people aged 15 – 24."
According to WHO, suicide accounts for nearly half of all violent deaths in the world. Brian Mishara, IASP president, noted that, "more people kill themselves than die in all wars, terrorist acts and interpersonal violence combined." As of 2008, the WHO refers the widest number of suicides occur in the age group 15 - 29, while the lowest in the 80+ although representing as well the one with the highest rate (per 100,000) of all age groups, with 27.8 suicides and 60.1 for females and males respectively. In 2015 the reported global age-standardized rate is 10.7 per 100,000.
Social norms play a significant role in the development of suicidal behaviors. Late 19th century's sociological studies recorded first ever observations on suicide: with statistics of the time at hand, sociologists mentioned the effects of industrialization as in relations between new urbanized communities and vulnerability to self-destructive behavior, suggesting social pressures have effects on suicide. Today, differences in suicidal behavior among different countries can be significant.
Themes + Suicide rates (per 100,000) by WHO region in 2015, 2012 and 2008 WHO region (approx % of world pop) Age-standardized (2015)Crude(2015)Male:Female(2015)Rate(2012)Male:Female(2012)Rate(2008)Male:Female(2008) Europe (13%)11.9 15.7 3.7 : 1 12.0 4.1 : 1 14.2 4.0 : 1 South Eastern Asia (26%)13.3 13.3 1.3 : 1 17.7 1.6 : 1 15.6 1.5 : 1 Western Pacific (26%)9.1 10.2 1.2 : 1 7.5 0.9 : 1 12.6 1.3 : 1 Americas (13.5%)9.1 9.9 3.3 : 1 6.1 3.6 : 1 7.9 3.6 : 1 Africa (13%)12.8 7.4 2.0 : 1 10.0 2.5 : 1 6.4 2.2 : 1 Eastern Mediterranean (8.5%)4.3 3.9 1.8 : 1 6.4 1.4 : 1 5.6 1.1 : 1 World (100.0%)10.7 10.7 1.7 : 1 11.4 1.9 : 1 11.6 1.8 : 1
2003 – "Suicide Can Be Prevented!" 2004 – "Saving Lives, Restoring Hope" 2005 – "Prevention of Suicide is Everybody's Business" 2006 – "With Understanding New Hope" 2007 – "Suicide prevention across the Life Span" 2008 – "Think Globally, Plan Nationally, Act Locally" 2009 – "Suicide Prevention in Different Cultures" 2010 – "Families, Community Systems and Suicide" 2011 – "Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies" 2012 – "Suicide Prevention across the Globe: Strengthening Protective Factors and Instilling Hope" 2013 – "Stigma: A Major Barrier to Suicide Prevention" 2014 – "Light a candle near a Window" 2015 – "Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives" 2016 – "Connect, Communicate, Care" 2017 – "Take a Minute, Change a Life" 2018-2020 – "Working Together to Prevent Suicide" 2021-2023- "Creating Hope Through Action"World Suicide Prevention Day - 10 September 2021 2024 - "Changing the Narrative on Suicide"World Suicide Prevention Day 10 September - Theme
Priorities SDG region Rate(2015)Male:Female(2015)Rate(2010)Male:Female(2010)Rate(2005)Male:Female(2005)Rate(2000)Male:Female(2000) Europe 17.43.8 : 1 19.6 4.0 : 1 22.94.1 : 1 24.2 4.0 : 1 16.53.6 : 1 17.6 3.8 : 1 19.53.9 : 1 20.3 3.9 : 1 Northern America 14.73.2 : 1 13.2 3.4 : 1 12.03.4 : 1 11.4 3.6 : 1 Australia and New Zealand 13.52.8 : 1 12.6 2.9 : 1 12.43.0 : 1 13.2 3.5 : 1 South-eastern Asia 13.22.3 : 1 13.6 2.3 : 1 14.72.2 : 1 14.7 2.0 : 1 Southern Asia 13.21.2 : 1 13.6 1.2 : 1 14.71.1 : 1 14.7 1.2 : 1 13.21.2 : 1 13.5 1.2 : 1 14.71.1 : 1 14.7 1.2 : 1 Oceania 11.52.8 : 1 10.7 2.8 : 1 10.82.9 : 1 11.7 3.2 : 1 Central Asia 11.43.5 : 1 13.1 3.9 : 1 15.34.6 : 1 14.8 4.4 : 1 11.11.1 : 1 12.8 1.0 : 1 13.31.0 : 1 14.2 0.9 : 1 9.61.2 : 1 10.9 1.1 : 1 11.31.1 : 1 12.2 1.0 : 1 9.53.3 : 1 9.3 3.1 : 1 9.23.0 : 1 10.5 2.9 : 1 8.02.4 : 1 8.7 2.4 : 1 9.72.5 : 1 10.1 2.4 : 1 7.52.0 : 1 7.7 1.9 : 1 8.01.9 : 1 8.5 1.8 : 1 7.13.5 : 1 6.5 3.4 : 1 6.43.4 : 1 6.5 3.6 : 1 6.61.7 : 1 6.8 1.6 : 1 7.31.5 : 1 7.7 1.6 : 1 5.92.7 : 1 5.9 2.5 : 1 5.52.4 : 1 5.8 2.2 : 1 5.12.7 : 1 5.5 2.8 : 1 5.13.0 : 1 4.8 3.1 : 1 4.72.7 : 1 5.0 2.6 : 1 4.92.6 : 1 4.8 2.6 : 1 4.32.7 : 1 4.4 2.4 : 1 4.72.2 : 1 4.8 2.0 : 1 Global 10.71.74 : 1 11.5 1.66 : 1 12.31.65 : 1 12.9 1.65 : 1 Suicide prevention's priorities, as declared on the 2012 World Suicide Prevention Day event, are stated below: We need to continue to research suicide and non-fatal suicidal behaviour, addressing both risk and protective factors. We need to develop and implement awareness campaigns, with the aim of increasing awareness of suicidal behaviours in the community, incorporating evidence on both risk and protective factors. We need to target our efforts not only to reduce risk factors but also to strengthen protective factor, especially in childhood and adolescence. We need to train health care professionals to better understand evidence-based risk and protective factors associated with suicidal behaviour. We need to combine primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. We need to increase use of and adherence to treatments shown to be effective in treating diverse conditions; and to prioritise research into effectiveness of treatments aimed at reducing self-harm and suicide risk. We need to increase the availability of mental health resources and to reduce barriers to accessing care. We need to disseminate research evidence about suicide prevention to policy makers at international, national and local levels. We need to reduce stigma and promote mental health literacy among the general population and health care professionals. We need to reach people who don't seek help, and hence don't receive treatment when they are in need of it. We need to ensure sustained funding for suicide research and prevention. We need to influence governments to develop suicide prevention strategies for all countries and to support the implementation of those strategies that have been demonstrated to save lives.
Factors Follows a brief summary of key quotes on the subject of suicide from different sources:
Physical and especially mental health disabling issues such as depression, are among the most common of the long list of complex and interrelated factors, ranging from financial problems to the experience of abuse, aggression, exploitation and mistreatment, that can contribute to the feelings of pain and hopelessness underling suicide. Usually substances and alcohol abuse also play a role. Prevention strategies generally emphasize public awareness towards social stigma and suicidal behaviors.
Country-based information
+ Suicide rates (per 100,000) in 2015CountryCruderateAge-adjusted rateMale:Femaleratio 34.6 4.4 : 1 32.7 26.1 5.8 : 1 Republic of Korea 32.024.1 2.7 : 1 29.0 30.6 3.0 : 1 28.1 5.2 : 1 27.5 27.5 5.0 : 1 26.6 26.9 3.3 : 1 22.8 19.1 6.5 : 1 22.3 18.5 6.7 : 1 21.7 17.4 6.6 : 1 21.615.7 3.7 : 1 21.4 15.0 4.1 : 1 25.9 2.7 : 1 20.5 16.1 2.6 : 1 17.9 5.7 : 1 20.116.6 4.6 : 1 World 10.7 10.7 1.7 : 1
In 1999, death by self-inflicted injuries was the fourth leading cause of death among aged 15–44, in the world. In a 2002 study it was reported the countries with the lowest rates tend to be in Latin America, "Muslim countries and a few Asian countries", and noted a lack of information from most African countries (see map). Data quality is to date a concern for suicide prevention policies. Incidence of suicide tends to be under-reported and misclassified due to both cultural and social pressures, and possibly completely unreported in some areas. Since data might be skewed, comparing suicide rates between nations can result in statistically unsound conclusions about suicidal behavior in different countries. Nevertheless, the statistics are commonly used to directly influence decisions about public policy and public health strategies.
Of the 34 member countries of the OECD, a group of mostly high-income countries that uses market economy to improve the Human Development Index, South Korea had the highest suicide rate in 2009. In 2011 South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare enacted legislation coinciding with WSPD to address the high rate.
In 2008 it was reported that young people 15–34 years old in China were more likely to die by suicide than by any other mean, especially young Chinese women in rural places because of "arguments about marriage". By 2011 however, suicide rate for the same age group had been declining significantly according to official releases, mainly by late China's urbanisation and migration from rural areas to more urbanised: since the 1990s indeed, overall national Chinese suicide rate dropped by 68%.
According to WHO, in 2009 the four countries with the highest rates of suicide were all in Eastern Europe; Slovenia had the fourth highest rate preceded by Russia, Latvia, and Belarus. This stays within findings from the start of the WSPD event in 2003 when the highest rates were also found in Eastern European countries. adapted from the chapter on "Self-Directed Violence" from the World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2002. As of 2015 the highest suicide rates are still in Eastern Europe, Korea and the Siberian area bordering China, in Sri Lanka and the Guianas, Belgium and few Sub-Saharan countries.