World Suicide Prevention Day

By Dr Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia

World Suicide Prevention Day, marked yearly on 10 September, is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, along side the World Health Organization (WHO).

The theme for 2024 – 2026 ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide’ is about transferring from a tradition of silence and disgrace to understanding and assist. It encourages folks, communities, establishments and governments—all of us—to have open and sincere discussions about suicide and suicidal behaviour.

With an estimated 208 000 lives misplaced yearly, suicide is a significant situation in our South-East Asia Region. It stays one of many main causes of demise, affecting folks of all ages, genders, and backgrounds.

By breaking the stigma surrounding psychological well being and suicide, we create a tradition the place folks really feel secure to hunt assist. It is important to make sure that nobody feels alone, and that everybody is aware of assist techniques and interventions can be found.

Suicides are preventable — however prevention is just not simple. It requires collective effort, consciousness, and a dedication to fostering hope, therapeutic, and connection. More than responding to particular person crises, it’s about constructing sturdy and inclusive communities the place folks really feel related, valued, and supported. Even small acts of kindness, sincere conversations, or just being current for somebody could make a profound distinction.

The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office has been offering technical assist to Member States to implement the LIVE LIFE initiative, a bundle of evidence-based interventions for suicide prevention and underlying cross-cutting pillars.

The LIVE LIFE implementation information offers technical steerage for the supply of 4 key multisectoral interventions, and 6 foundational pillars.

The 4 interventions are:

1. Limiting entry to the technique of suicide
2. Interacting with media for accountable reporting of suicide
3. Fostering socio-emotional life-skills in younger folks
4. Early identification and assist to everybody affected by suicide and self-harm

The implementation of those is supported by six foundational pillars:

1. Situation evaluation
2. Multisectoral collaboration
3. Awareness elevating and advocacy
4. Capacity constructing
5. Financing
6. Surveillance, monitoring and analysis

The interventions will be built-in into well being, neighborhood and different settings, and are a place to begin to constructing a multi-level, multi-sectoral method to suicide prevention.

As we replicate on these methods, allow us to bear in mind suicide prevention begins with us. It is our phrases, our compassion and our affected person listening that may save lives.

On World Suicide Prevention Day 2025, allow us to begin the dialog. Talk overtly about suicide and suicide prevention, present compassion, supply assist, and hear with out judgment.

Change the narrative. Suicide is just not inevitable, it’s preventable—and have to be prevented.