According to the Minister of Health A. Dulkis, there has been a recent trend of decreasing suicides, but even one life lost in this way is too many. “Suicides in Lithuania are an indicator of how much foreignness is thrown into our relations. It is impossible to solve the problem of suicides by administrative measures alone, therefore, in the new plan, a lot of attention is paid to public education and work with communities and relatives, raising awareness, so that when suicidal behavior and thoughts are recognized in time, all the necessary help can be provided”, the minister points out.
“Although the number of suicides in Lithuania has halved over the past decade, this problem remains very relevant. Therefore, together with the best scientists and practitioners in this field, as well as representatives of institutions, we identified priorities and prepared an action plan, which aims to reduce the number of suicides to 16.6 cases per 100,000 by the end of 2026. population per year. If this goal were to be achieved, at least 60 additional lives would be saved compared to the year 2022, when 527 suicides occurred in the country,” said Ignas Rubikas, head of the Mental Health Department of the Ministry of Health.
By improving society’s ability to recognize the threat of suicide, establish contact and direct help, it is planned to reduce the myths about suicide that still exist in society, the exclusion and stigma of such persons through public communication and social campaigns. It is also planned to expand the circle of “goalkeepers” – persons who can be closest to a person experiencing the threat of suicide – and strengthen their competences. Education, police, Prison Service, health, and social services specialists will be actively involved in the training.
When providing assistance at the municipal level, it is very important for specialists from different fields to cooperate, to exchange information and for everyone to perform their functions well. For that purpose, the plan envisages support for implementing suicide prevention algorithms in municipalities through training and more effective intersectoral cooperation.
In order to implement these algorithms in practice, suicide prevention coordinators will start working in some municipalities as early as 2024. Their duty is to monitor and improve the help algorithm and cooperation, organize help for relatives, increase the awareness of the municipality’s residents about help options, and more.
While improving the support system for those who have tried to commit suicide or are under the threat of suicide, the plan envisages strengthening the availability of non-drug services, improving the competences of specialists, and implementing evidence-based specialized interventions. A lot of attention is also paid to the relatives of those who attempted suicide and those who committed suicide: it is planned to develop services that would include both individual counseling and mutual support groups.
Effective changes require high-quality monitoring of ongoing activities, therefore the plan envisages improving the registration of self-harm cases and suicides, as well as conducting detailed monitoring of the organization of assistance to persons at risk of suicide, responding to shortcomings and aiming for their systematic elimination.
In order to achieve the main goal of reducing the number of suicides, the gap between different municipalities will be reduced, focusing on those territories and target groups where the situation is the worst. Equally important is fostering and sustaining an open and data-driven debate on this topic. It is expected that the Institute of Hygiene will provide analytical reports on suicide statistics, its changes and trends, and the Ministry of Health Protection will convene an expert council, which will discuss these trends, the successes and shortcomings of the implementation of the plan, and make suggestions for improving activities.
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2024-09-23 15:13:09
