10.09.12
£1.5m suicide prevention strategy launched
The Government has launched a new £1.5m suicide prevention strategy, the first of its kind for over a decade. The strategy aims to reduce England’s current annual suicide rate of over 4,000, as well as providing support for those affected.
The Government’s key areas of focus include the provision of facilities and information, reducing opportunities for suicide and achieving a greater understanding of those considering it.
Services to at-risk groups including children and young people will also be addressed. The Government Policy Research Programme funding will enable further research into the evidence base and consideration of many suicide factors, involving the management of self-harm, the improvement of mental health in specific minority groups, and the supplying of effective support to the bereaved.
The media will play a vital role in the implementation of the new strategy. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) will work alongside the Government in the assistance of parents and parental controls, reducing children’s access to suicide-related websites. The issues of how and why suicidal people use the internet will also be considered.
Launching the strategy, the new care minister Norman Lamb MP said: “One death to suicide is one too many – we want to make suicide prevention everyone’s business. Over the last 10 years there has been real progress in reducing the suicide rate, but it is still the case that someone takes their own life every two hours in England.
“Effective suicide prevention requires combined effort from a wide range of organisations across the voluntary, statutory and private sectors.”
Chair of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, Professor Louis Appleby added: “Suicide does not have one cause – many factors combine to produce an individual tragedy. Prevention too must be broad – communities, families and front-line services all have a vital role.”
In response to the strategy, Simon Lawton-Smith, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation, welcomed the Government’s plans. He said: “People’s unwillingness to talk about their problems can be a factor in suicide. More still needs to be done.”
The strategy can be found at: www.dh.gov.uk/health/files/2012/09/Preventing-Suicide-in-England-A-cross-government-outcomes-strategy-to-save-lives.pdf
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