The International Association for the Prevention of Suicide is working with WHO to hold this World Prevention Day to raise awareness about the number of lives lost due to suicide.
Decreasing the number of suicides is a major public health issue which is part of a wider aim to reduce early mortality (mortality before the age of 65).
Each year, 11,000 people take their own life.
Despite a general decrease in the number of deaths by suicide between 1990 and 2010, the level remains high, and is the second cause of death after road accidents in the 15-24 age group (16.3% of all deaths).
Faced with this public health issue, the French Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, has declared her intention to create a Suicide Watch. Its main objective will be to “improve the coordination of existing information, improve identification of the problem and alert people better.” The Suicide Watch will be inaugurated on the World Prevention Day.
For further information, contact Grégoire REY, Director of the CépiDc-Inserm (Centre d’épidémiologie sur les causes de décès – Epidemiology Centre on the Causes of Death).
