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WHO calls for concerted action to reduce global suicide rates
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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The World Health Organization has published the first large-scale report on suicide prevention, according to which more than 800,000 people die from suicide every year, with an average of one person dying every 40 seconds.
Countries with predominantly low and middle living standards have the highest incidence of suicide (approximately 75%).
Among all suicides, poisoning with pesticides, firearms and hanging are the most common, and if access to possible suicide means is restricted, the number of suicides can be significantly reduced. National strategies, which are currently used in only 28 countries, can also help reduce the number of suicides.
The WHO report called for decisive action on the significant problem of suicide. Suicides occur in large numbers worldwide, and people of all ages commit suicide, but some countries have high rates of suicide among young people, especially young men. In countries with low and average quality of life, older women and young people are most likely to commit suicide.
Suicide can be prevented by limiting access to the means most often used to commit suicide (pesticides, sleeping pills, firearms, etc.), and by making every effort to promptly detect and treat various mental disorders. Also, when commenting on suicide in the media, it is not recommended to sensationalize such a case and talk in detail about how exactly the suicide was committed.
With regard to people who have attempted suicide unsuccessfully, given the high probability of a repeat incident, it is important to maintain systematic contact with the potential suicide, in particular by telephone or in person, and to provide all kinds of psychological support.
WHO encourages countries to involve not only the national health department, but also various ministries (education, social security, labor, justice) in the problem.
The WHO report is the first of its kind and provides a comprehensive overview of suicide cases and successful efforts to prevent them.
Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO's Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said it was important to act now because the most effective measures to prevent suicide were already known.
The WHO has released the report just ahead of Suicide Prevention Day, which is being observed around the world. The WHO's proposed mental health actions call for countries to make every effort to reduce suicide rates by 10% by 2020.
Today, the suicidal tendencies of young people are causing alarm in most countries, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where the highest rate of suicide among women is observed.
Pesticides are the most common means of killing animals worldwide, and are particularly prevalent in the agricultural regions of the Western Pacific.