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Join us on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 1:30 am (EDT) for the Launch of the Pan American Health Organization Regional Suicide Prevention Initiative. In response to the growing suicide crisis, PAHO is launching a Regional Suicide Prevention Initiative to strengthen national capacities to reduce suicide mortality. The Initiative will provide targeted support to selected countries with high and rising suicide rates, emphasizing evidence-based interventions, including those outlined by the WHO LIVE LIFE Implementation Guide for Suicide Prevention in Countries, as the basis for comprehensive suicide prevention efforts.
Event objectives:
- Highlight the current suicide prevention landscape in the Region of the Americas
- Present the new PAHO Regional Suicide Prevention Initiative
- Facilitate the exchange of best practices, challenges, and lessons learned in national suicide prevention efforts
- Promote regional solidarity and multisectoral collaboration to strengthen suicide prevention
How to participate
Agenda
Coming soon!
Background
Suicide is a critical public health concern in the Region of the Americas. In 2021 alone, over 100,000 individuals (9.0 per 100,000 population) died by suicide. Countries in the region consistently rank among those with the highest suicide rates worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated, multisectoral action.
The Region has seen a troubling increase in suicide; between 2000 and 2021, the regional suicide rate rose by 17%, with the Americas being the only World Health Organization (WHO) region to experience an increase during this period. The COVID-19 pandemic further intensified known risk factors for suicide, such as unemployment, financial instability, and social isolation. Populations including Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities, adolescents, and individuals with severe mental health conditions, among others, are consistently among those at higher risk for suicide.
In recognition of this critical issue, PAHO has made suicide prevention a key priority. This is reflected in its inclusion as a strategic line of action in the Strategy for Improving Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in the Region of the Americas, which was endorsed by the 60th Directing Council in September 2023. Additionally, PAHO’s recent collaborations with the Organization of American States (OAS) resulted in the in adoption of OAS Resolution “Addressing the Critical Mental Health Crisis in the Americas,” in which countries committed to increasing investment in mental health and suicide prevention using a person-centered, rights-and equity-based approach.
Countries in the Region have taken important steps to advance suicide prevention, including developing and updating national suicide prevention strategies, which are essential to guiding coordinated responses to suicide. However, despite this progress, obstacles including weak governance for suicide prevention, the limited integration of mental health in primary care, poor data collection, and pervasive stigma and discrimination continue to undermine effective suicide prevention efforts.
Time in other cities
- 10:30 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver
- 11:30 a.m. – Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San José (CR), San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
- 12:30 p.m. – Bogotá, Panama City, Kingston, Lima, Quito
- 1:30 p.m. – Bridgetown, Caracas, Georgetown, Havana, La Paz, Port of Spain, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Ottawa, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Washington D.C.,
- 2:30 p.m. – Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo
- 7:30 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid
For other cities, please check the local time on this link.