New York: Europe and the Arabs
On the occasion of International Suicide Prevention Day, the World Health Organization calls on governments, communities, families, civil society and individuals to "create hope through action" and support survivors and all those who have lost loved ones due to this tragedy. According to the official website of the United Nations.
It is estimated that more than 700,000 people around the world die every year due to suicide, while the number of those who attempt suicide is much higher than that number.
According to the global report entitled “World Suicide in 2019: Global Health Estimates”, more than 77 per cent of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, including countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region where the number of people who died by suicide was estimated at more than Of 41 thousand people in 2019.
The World Health Organization said that suicide is a fundamental public health problem and has serious social, emotional and economic consequences. It is also the fourth leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 29 years around the world.
In this context, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said: “Suicide is a tragic act that indicates despair, and its prevention requires greater care and attention in communities and among family members, caregivers and others. Taking effective measures at a time appropriate by all stakeholders – i.e. governments, civil society organizations, communities, families and individuals – to create hope and reduce suicidal behaviour.”

Effective interventions
According to the World Health Organization, preventing suicide requires implementing effective, evidence-based interventions. The organization recommended taking measures to reduce access to means of suicide, such as pesticides, firearms and some medications, and interacting with the media in order to ensure responsible media coverage of suicide cases.
It also recommended enhancing the social and emotional skills of adolescents and ensuring that suicidal behaviors are identified early in people affected by them, and their condition is assessed, treated, and followed up.

They are far from achieving the goal
The World Health Organization has adopted “Creating Hope through Action” as the slogan for World Suicide Prevention Day over the past three years, and said that this includes raising awareness of suicide prevention and reducing the stigma associated with it.
Under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States have committed to working towards reducing the suicide rate in countries by one-third by 2030.
Dr. Al-Mandhari stressed that the organization is working with the countries of the region to strengthen efforts aimed at achieving the global goal, “but we are still far from achieving that goal.”
He stressed the need to make more efforts to achieve it by all concerned parties, and added: “This is inevitable within the framework of our vision to achieve health for all and by everyone.”