As World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) draws closer, I am delighted to share that we now have a suite of resources available on our website including banners in multiple languages, outreach briefs, and much more. As I noted in my last update, the theme for 2024-2026 is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide” and this year’s call to action is “Start the conversation”. This theme aims to raise awareness about the importance of changing the narrative surrounding suicide, reducing stigma, and encouraging open conversations to prevent suicide. Although it is challenging to do so, suicide is preventable right up until the last moment. The theme also includes emphasising the need to prioritise mental health and suicide prevention in policymaking, and use each of our voices to encourage governments to act to prevent suicide. If you are organising any events to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, please submit them here.
In June, we held the 11th Asia Pacific Conference in Bangkok, Thailand as a key regional forum to share expertise, knowledge, and insights among peers in suicide prevention. I want to thank our 311 delegates from 38 countries and our generous sponsors for making the programme such a big success! A wide range of topics on suicide prevention such as national suicide prevention strategies, responsible media reporting, religiosity and spirituality, First Nations suicide prevention, social inequalities, and many more – were covered across the four days of the conference. Overall, we hope that the conference helped to disseminate knowledge and share local, national, and international strategies and knowledge around suicide prevention.
In wider news, it was encouraging to see a range of topics discussed at the 3rd Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum organised by the Global Mental Health Action Network (GMHAN) from 17-19 July. The ‘Effective suicide prevention programs and strategies: integrating local and national strategies for suicide prevention’ session on the second day highlighted the importance of evidence-based interventions, suicide decriminalisation, crisis helplines, surveillance systems, and training of health workers. It is great to see this Forum gaining more and more momentum.
Looking ahead, I am excited to be attending the inaugural IASP Pan-American Conference, scheduled for November 19–22 in Minneapolis, USA. This conference, which will be my last before ending my term as IASP President in December 31st, seeks to foster solidarity in advancing suicide prevention efforts through collaboration, innovation, and knowledge exchange and provide the opportunity to convene stakeholders from across the Americas. The portal for symposium and workshop abstracts has just closed but there is still time for oral and poster abstracts submission until 11 August 2024. Please submit your abstracts here.
We are also looking forward to the 20th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour (ESSSB20) from 28-31 August 2024 in Rome, Italy. It will be great to be back in Rome and I know that Marco Sarchiapone, Vladimir Carli and colleagues will be fantastic hosts – and they will deliver brilliant scientific and social programmes. For our part, the IASP Partnerships for Life Initiative will be hosting a Pre-Conference Workshop focusing on identifying key priorities for action around national suicide prevention strategies.
I hope to see many of you in the coming months either in Minneapolis or in Rome and hear about the exciting developments in your countries! In the meantime, I believe that as a global community, we can work together to achieve our shared mission of preventing suicide and suicidal behaviour globally and alleviating its effects.
Very best wishes,
Prof. Rory O’ Connor
President, IASP
