In 2019 SabrinasReach4Life hosted the first World Suicide Prevention Day in the NT. The success of the event led to the continuing for future NT WSPD events.

About World Suicide Prevention Day ....

World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003. The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) to host World Suicide Prevention Day. In 2011 an estimated 40 countries held awareness events to mark the occasion. According to WHO's Mental Health Atlas released in 2014, no low-income country reported having a national suicide prevention strategy, while less than 10% of lower-middle income countries, and almost a third of upper-middle and high-income countries had.

On its first event in 2003, the 1999 WHO's global suicide prevention initiative is mentioned with regards to the main strategy for its implementation, requiring:

  1. "The organisation of global, regional and national multi-sectoral activities to increase awareness about suicidal behaviours and how to effectively prevent them."
  2. "The strengthening of countries' capabilities to develop and evaluate national policies and plans for suicide prevention."

"Suicide Can Be Prevented!"

2004 – "Saving Lives, Restoring Hope"

2005 – "Prevention of Suicide is Everybody's Business"

2006 – "With Understanding New Hope"

2007 – "Suicide prevention across the Life Span"

2008 – "Think Globally, Plan Nationally, Act Locally"

2009 – "Suicide Prevention in Different Cultures"

2010 – "Families, Community Systems and Suicide"

2011 – "Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies"

2012 – "Suicide Prevention across the Globe: Strengthening Protective Factors and Instilling Hope"

2013 – "Stigma: A Major Barrier to Suicide Prevention"

2014 – "Light a candle near a Window"

2015 – "Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives"

2016 – "Connect, Communicate, Care"

2017 – "Take a Minute, Change a Life"

2018 – "Working Together to Prevent Suicide"

 2019 – "Working Together to Prevent Suicide"

2020 – "Working Together to Prevent Suicide"

2021 - "Creating Hope Through Action"

2022 - "Creating Hope Through Action"

2023 - "Creating Hope Through Action"

2024 - "Change the Narrative ~ Start The Conversation

As of recent WHO releases, challenges represented by social stigma, the taboo to openly discuss suicide, and low availability of data are still to date obstacles leading to poor data quality for both suicide and suicide attempts: "given the sensitivity of suicide – and the illegality of suicidal behaviour in some countries – it is likely that under-reporting and misclassification are greater problems for suicide than for most other causes of death."

Suicide has a number of complex and interrelated and underlying contributing factors ... that can contribute to the feelings of pain and hopelessness.

"In much of the world, suicide is stigmatized and condemned for religious or cultural reasons. In some countries, suicidal behaviour is a criminal offence punishable by law. Suicide is therefore often a secretive act surrounded by taboo, and may be unrecognized, misclassified or deliberately hidden in official records of death. Stigma, particularly surrounding mental disorders and suicide, means many people thinking of taking their own life or who have attempted suicide are not seeking help and are therefore not getting the help they need. The prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to a lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it. Raising community awareness and breaking down the taboo is important for countries to make progress in preventing suicide."

  • We need to continue to research suicide and non-fatal suicidal behaviour, addressing both risk and protective factors.
  • We need to develop and implement awareness campaigns, with the aim of increasing awareness of suicidal behaviours in the community, incorporating evidence on both risk and protective factors.
  • We need to target our efforts not only to reduce risk factors but also to strengthen protective factor, especially in childhood and adolescence.
  • We need to train health care professionals to better understand evidence-based risk and protective factors associated with suicidal behaviour.
  • We need to combine primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
  • We need to increase use of and adherence to treatments shown to be effective in treating diverse conditions; and to prioritise research into effectiveness of treatments aimed at reducing self-harm and suicide risk.
  • We need to increase the availability of mental health resources and to reduce barriers to accessing care.
  • We need to disseminate research evidence about suicide prevention to policy makers at international, national and local levels.
  • We need to reduce stigma and promote mental health literacy among the general population and health care professionals.
  • We need to reach people who don't seek help, and hence don't receive treatment when they need it.
  • We need to ensure sustained funding for suicide research and prevention.
  • We need to influence governments to develop suicide prevention strategies for all countries and to support the implementation of those strategies that have been demonstrated to save lives.

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