This free virtual summit will be focused on strengthening suicide prevention efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean by bridging the persistent gap between research and implementation. Aligned with the World Health Organization’s strategic objectives 2: address health determinants and the root causes of ill health in key policies across sectors, and 4: improve health service coverage and financial protection to address inequity and gender inequalities, the proposal responds to the region’s limited resources for formal research and the resulting need for action-driven, locally developed interventions.

The proposed Summit; delivered in collaboration with the International Association for Suicide Prevention, PAHO and the University of Toronto, aligns with PAHO’s Strategic Objectives for the 2026–2027 biennium, as set out in the PAHO Strategic Plan 2026–2031, particularly those related to strengthening primary health care–based health systems, accelerating prevention and care for mental health conditions and suicide, and advancing equity and rights based approaches to health for all across the life course.” While many effective implementation initiatives exist, they are often not systematically evaluated, and research outputs frequently fail to reach ground-level application.