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State of the Art 3

Preventing Suicide – Challenges and Opportunities

Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar

Consultant Psychiatrist, Voluntary Health Services; Founder, SNEHA – Suicide Prevention Centre; Member: W.H.O.
Intl. Network for Suicide Prevention & Research; Hon. Associate Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia

Every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide in the world and it is estimated that 15 – 16 million attempt
suicide. Despite the enormity of the problem, suicide and its prevention has been accorded low priority
in a majority of the countries.
It is estimated that 75.5% of all suicides occur in Low and Middle Income Countries (LAMIC), which
have inadequate human and economic resources to address this major public health problem. The global
age standardized suicide rate is 11.4/1,00,000 population (15 for males and 8 for females). The rate, the
gender ratio, the age pattern and the method of suicide varies greatly between countries and also within
countries.
Risk factors like presence of a mental disorder, substance abuse, previous suicide attempt and family
history of suicide and mental disorders are universal, while others may be specific to countries and
cultures.
It is well established that suicide is preventable. Effective interventions include limiting access to lethal
means, contact following self harm and reducing the key risk factors for suicide , especially depression
and alcohol misuse.
A major challenge to suicide prevention is the wide variability of suicidal behavior and the complex
interaction of a variety of individual and social factors which results in suicide. The emergence of cross
discipline and cross organizational modules without being restricted to health service modules is an
important opportunity.