Globally, every three seconds someone attempts to take his or her own life and almost one million deaths a year are by suicide. This is higher than the total number of deaths each year from homicide and road accidents combined. Since the year 2000 there have been more than five million suicide deaths worldwide. Suicide is an important public health problem and is a leading cause of death amongst teenagers and young adults.

The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) is using Sunday 10th September to draw attention to suicide as a leading cause of premature and preventable death. The theme for this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day is ‘with understanding, new hope’ and the focus is on translating current scientific knowledge and research about suicidal behaviour into practical programmes and activities that can reduce suicidal behaviour.

“September 10 is an annual event sponsored
by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. This year the theme of World Suicide Prevention Day is “Suicide Prevention across the Life Span”. This theme has been adopted to emphasise the fact that suicide occurs in all ages and suicide prevention and intervention strategies may be adapted to meet the needs of different age groups.
There is a common misperception that suicide occurs mostly amongst the young. This belief has it’s origins in research in the mid-1980s which showed that suicide had increased dramatically in young males in many countries. This trend focused attention on suicide as a major social issue for young people and led to an extensive focus on suicide research and prevention amongst young people.

“While this focus was justified and led to much useful research and the development of appropriate interventions, it has tended to obscure the fact that suicide occurs across the lifespan. In almost all countries the majority of suicides, every year, occur not in young people, but in adults and older adults. Consequently, this year’s theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is that suicide occurs across the lifespan and we must invest in suicide prevention programmes which address suicide in people of all ages.” http://www.med.uio.no/iasp/english/wspd/2007/wspd_menu2007.html