Suicide Prevention in the Western Pacific Region

Abstract

This chapter draws on internationally available data to describe the epidemiology of suicide and self-harm in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region. It then describes the suicide prevention activities in the region, using in-depth case studies to highlight some key suicide prevention activities in certain countries/areas and the Global Survey on Suicide Prevention conducted in 2013 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and WHO. It demonstrates that there is considerable variability both between and within low and middle income countries and high income countries, both in terms of rates of suicide and self-harm and in terms of the preventive efforts that have been mobilised to address them. Adequate funding for suicide prevention efforts in the region should be a priority, as should the delivery of a range of suicide prevention approaches. Evaluation and monitoring efforts are also crucial.

Keywords: Western Pacific Region; self-harm; suicide.