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Britain
Publishes Suicide
Prevention Strategy
LONDON (Reuters Health) -
Britain set out plans to reduce the number of people who commit
suicide, which is the most common cause of death among men under
35.
Health minister Jacqui Smith said the new National Suicide Prevention
Strategy for England was part of the government's plan for reducing
the number of people who take their own lives by at least 20% by
2010.
"Suicide is devastating
and on average a person dies every 2 hours as a result of it,"
Smith said in a statement. "This National Strategy aims to reduce
the number of suicides and forms a key part of the government's
overall commitment to Mental Health, one of its top priorities."
Government figures show
that nearly 5,000 people in England take their own life each year,
1,900 of those by hanging, strangulation or asphyxiation, and
1,330 by self-poisoning.
The strategy targets
high-risk groups such as young men and the mentally ill, partly
through better follow-up of people who have deliberately harmed
themselves in the past and suicide screening of prisoners.
It makes reducing the
availability of suicide methods a priority, for example by promoting
safer prescribing of antidepressants and painkillers, and helping
local services improve safety at suicide "hot spots" such as railway
bridges.
The program also aims
to improve reporting of suicidal behavior in the media and to
promote research into suicide and suicide prevention.
The government had previously
announced an investment of 329 million over the next 3 years to
improve community mental health services, including more crisis
resolution teams, outreach services and early intervention teams,
Smith said.
"All of these services
will help to meet the target of reducing suicide deaths," she
said.
Smith will officially
launch the strategy at the 9th European Symposium on Suicide and
Suicidal Behavior at the University of Warwick.
Reference
Source 89
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