Prevention of suicide is possible

The 2019 report of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2019) showed – for the first time since its publication – a reduction of suicide rates in all but one region (America's) of the WHO. The number of people who died because of suicide in the most recent year reported was 10% lower than the number in the preceding report made more significant by the fact that the population of the world continued to increase. The incidence of suicide in the PR China (particularly among young women) in the 1980s was reported to be among the highest in the world: since then it has been reduced to a level similar to that seen in many European countries. The variation of suicide rates was explained by changes in the organization of health services, by control of pesticide availability and by a change of conditions related to urbanization (Phillips et al., 1999). A multicentre study of the World Health Organization (Fleischmann et al., 2008) showed the effectiveness of brief interventions to prevent suicide, in a variety of countries. Professor Hegerl's work (Hegerl et al., 2006) demonstrated that interventions by the health care sector (taken in collaboration with other social sectors) can lead to a reduction of suicide rates in urban settings. There are other studies and reports but the three examples mentioned above demonstrate that the incidence of suicide can be brought down by interventions by the health and social sectors and services; the WHO report however also shows that there are other factors which influence suicide rates, factors about which we still do not know enough. We could and should therefore hope that the future will see a universal application of measures of proven effectiveness in the prevention of suicide (e.g. the development of health services with a capacity to deal with suicide and suicide attempts) and a growth of the awareness that social change is a matter of life or death and must therefore be steered with care and humanitarian ideals in mind. At the same time, however a careful evaluation of effects of interventions and research on suicide and its prevention should continue and its results should help to guide action. The rates of suicide can be reduced and our action and behavior can make this happen.