The Surgeon General’s Call to Action

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), in collaboration with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance), recently released The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (Call to Action). This new resource seeks to advance progress toward full implementation of the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention by identifying six key actions and corresponding strategies and priorities that must be taken now to reduce suicide.

Developed in consultation with multiple public and private sector partners and guided by scientific evidence as well as insights from people with lived experience, the Call to Action focuses on the following:

• Action 1. Activate a broad-based public health response to suicide
• Action 2. Address upstream factors that impact suicide
• Action 3. Ensure lethal means safety
• Action 4. Support adoption of evidence-based care for suicide risk
• Action 5. Enhance crisis care and care transitions
• Action 6. Improve the quality, timeliness, and use of suicide-related data

Advancing the Call to Action, and ultimately the National Strategy, is achievable through the collaboration and engagement of both public and private sectors. The Call to Action offers us a robust and realistic plan that can reverse the upward trend of suicide deaths in the U.S. and save lives.