One suicide every 40 seconds: it's the second leading cause of death among young people

"Five years after the publication of the first WHO Global Report on Suicide, the number of countries with national suicide prevention strategies has increased (…) However, there are only 38, a number too small, "said the WHO in a statement.

In the document, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said: "Suicides can be avoided.We urge all countries to integrate sustainably proven efficiency strategies in their national programs. health and training, suicide prevention. "

A suicide every 40 seconds

According to the WHO, every 40 seconds, a person commits suicide in the world and, although 79% of suicides were in low- and middle-income countries, the highest rate is in high-income countries, where, in addition, nearly three times as many men commit suicide. women compared to low- and middle-income countries, where the rate is more There are indications that for every person who commits suicide, another 20 people did the same.

The WHO statement also recalled that "Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29, after road accidents."

Suicide: causes and prevention

"Suicide is always multicausal; There are acute causes such as losses, trauma such as stories of abuse, chronic and mental illnesses, substance abuse, among others, "said Gabriela Nielsen, a member of the Department of Psychiatry of Canada. 39; INECO.

And he added: "There are also social or environmental factors, for example migration, which must be uprooted for economic reasons in another country".

The specialist indicated that "in this context, when we talk about prevention, we are targeting strategies such as access to mental health, for example, since, according to WHO data, 80% of people with mental health do not have access to treatment, and of this only 20%, half do so in a specialized way. "

With regard to adolescent suicide, Nielsen explained that "psychoeducation at school is very effective according to the studies, it is education about the consumption of psychoactive substances, but also to generate contexts in which to identify the symptoms or where the adolescent feels safe. " his traumas. "

The work on bullying and the stigmatization of mental illness is, according to the psychiatrist, a fundamental task of prevention.

Suicides in Argentina

In June, UNICEF released the report "Suicide in Adolescence, Situation in Argentina", which details "Teenage suicide cases have tripled in the last 30 years."

This figure rose to 12.7 per 100,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19 and is now the second leading cause of death among 10-19 year olds; while "the self-provoked mortality rates between 2015 and 2017 in the provinces of Salta, Catamarca and Jujuy are 10 times higher than those of the rest of the country".

With regard to the task at hand, UNICEF has found that at the national level, "the procedure of recording deaths by suicide is still poor".

"It is necessary to link death certificates to medical records in order to improve data on the cause of death and to create a unified electronic record with dissemination of information on different organizations, respecting the ethical criteria of confidentiality, anonymity and strength, information protection rules, "the agency concluded.