IRELAND: New national strategy to prevent suicide
July 10, 2015
Connecting for Life, Ireland’s newly launched suicide prevention strategy for 2015 through 2020, sets the ambitious goal of reducing suicide and self-harm by 10 percent during that period. Although not all self-harm is suicidal in intent, research has found that even non-suicidal self-injury is a risk factor for later death by suicide. This is Ireland’s second national plan for suicide prevention, building on efforts led under Reach Out, which was in place 2005-2014. Gerry Raleigh, director of the National Office for Suicide Prevention, said “We have developed the strategy by following a collaborative, inclusive, and evidence-informed pathway. We must now move into focused action and be accountable for what we do to reduce suicide in Ireland.” The new strategy is based on seven goals, including improving access to services, reaching out to especially high-risk populations, and reducing access to lethal means such as the drugs most often used in intentional overdoses.
Spark Extra! Read Connecting for Life: Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide 2015-2020.