800,000 people commit suicide every year- WHO

Nearly 800,000 people commit suicide every year as it’s the second leading cause of death among people aged 15-29 in 2016, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

A toolkit to help communities prevent suicides was released by the WHO and the Mental Health Commission of Canada on the World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday.

Suicides happen in all the countries and regions, whether rich or poor. However, most of them occur in low and middle-income countries, which accounted for almost four-fifths of the global suicides in 2016, the document said.

Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Many more attempt suicide. Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and is the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally.

Suicide is a global phenomenon; in fact, 79% of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2016. Suicide accounted for 1.4% of all deaths worldwide, making it the 18th leading cause of death in 2016. 

Effective and evidence-based interventions can be implemented at population, sub-population and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts.

There are indications that for each adult who died of suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.