Government Suicide Prevention Plan
Governmentmoves to cut high suicide rate
"The government is planning coordinated suicide prevention efforts that will cross boundaries at ministries and agencies, officials said.
The move will come in response to a resolution by an Upper House panel on health, labor and welfare expected Tuesday calling for steps aimed at curtailing the high suicide rate.
The steps will include setting up a liaison council within the Cabinet Secretariat and a suicide prevention center at a health ministry affiliate.
The new system will also invite local authorities and nonprofit organizations to join suicide prevention efforts to build nationwide networks.
According to Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare statistics, 30,227 people killed themselves in 2004, passing the 30,000 mark for a second year in a row. Suicide was the sixth-largest cause of death that year.
But according to National Police Agency statistics, the number of suicides has remained above 30,000 for seven years.
The health ministry aims to reduce suicides to 22,000 or less by 2010. The ministry, along with other government entities, has taken separate countermeasures, but they have been deemed ineffective, say officials.
They are especially alarmed by an increase in suicides among middle-aged people, especially men between the ages of 50 and 54.
Also disturbing is a recent trend toward group suicides by people who make contact through suicide Web sites.
The new liaison council in the Cabinet Secretariat will bring together bureau chiefs of the ministries of health and education, the NPA and related entities.
The National Institute of Mental Health of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry will host the proposed suicide prevention center.
In addition to research in cooperation with police, schools and nonprofit organizations, the center will train suicide prevention specialists..."
International Herald Tribune/Asahi: July 18,2005
"The government is planning coordinated suicide prevention efforts that will cross boundaries at ministries and agencies, officials said.
The move will come in response to a resolution by an Upper House panel on health, labor and welfare expected Tuesday calling for steps aimed at curtailing the high suicide rate.
The steps will include setting up a liaison council within the Cabinet Secretariat and a suicide prevention center at a health ministry affiliate.
The new system will also invite local authorities and nonprofit organizations to join suicide prevention efforts to build nationwide networks.
According to Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare statistics, 30,227 people killed themselves in 2004, passing the 30,000 mark for a second year in a row. Suicide was the sixth-largest cause of death that year.
But according to National Police Agency statistics, the number of suicides has remained above 30,000 for seven years.
The health ministry aims to reduce suicides to 22,000 or less by 2010. The ministry, along with other government entities, has taken separate countermeasures, but they have been deemed ineffective, say officials.
They are especially alarmed by an increase in suicides among middle-aged people, especially men between the ages of 50 and 54.
Also disturbing is a recent trend toward group suicides by people who make contact through suicide Web sites.
The new liaison council in the Cabinet Secretariat will bring together bureau chiefs of the ministries of health and education, the NPA and related entities.
The National Institute of Mental Health of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry will host the proposed suicide prevention center.
In addition to research in cooperation with police, schools and nonprofit organizations, the center will train suicide prevention specialists..."
International Herald Tribune/Asahi: July 18,2005
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