New suicide prevention plan approved
As part of the Government's commitment to ensuring that Lithuanian citizens live long and fulfilling healthy lives, the Minister of Health, Arūnas Dulkys, has approved the National Action Plan for Suicide Prevention 2023-2026.
According to Health Minister Dulkys, there has been a recent downward trend in the number of suicides, but even one life lost in this way is too many. "Suicides in Lithuania are an indicator of how much strangeness is embedded in our relationships. The problem of suicide cannot be solved by administrvative measures alone, which is why the new plan focuses on public education and working with communities and relatives, raising awareness so that if suicidal behaviour and thoughts are recognised in time, all the necessary help can be provided," the Minister said.
Improving the public's capacity to recognise suicide risk, to make contact and to refer for help is aimed at reducing the myths about suicide, the exclusion and the stigma of suicidal people through public communication and social campaigns. It also aims to widen the circle of gatekeepers - those who can be closest to the person at risk of suicide - and to strengthen their competences. The training will actively involve professionals from education, police, prison services, health and social services.
When providing assistance at the municipal level, it is very important for specialists from different fields to cooperate, to exchange information and to perform their functions to a high standard. To this end, the Plan provides support for the introduction of suicide prevention algorithms in municipalities through training and more effective inter-sectoral cooperation.
In order to put these algorithms into practice, suicide prevention coordinators will be in place in some municipalities as early as 2024. Their duties will include monitoring and improving the algorithm and cooperation, organising assistance to relatives, raising awareness of the municipality's population about the possibilities of assistance, etc.
Improving the public's capacity to recognise suicide risk, to make contact and to refer for help is aimed at reducing the myths about suicide, the exclusion and the stigma of suicidal people through public communication and social campaigns. It also aims to widen the circle of gatekeepers - those who can be closest to the person at risk of suicide - and to strengthen their competences. The training will actively involve professionals from education, police, prison services, health and social services.
When providing assistance at the municipal level, it is very important for specialists from different fields to cooperate, to exchange information and to perform their functions to a high standard. To this end, the Plan provides support for the introduction of suicide prevention algorithms in municipalities through training and more effective inter-sectoral cooperation.
In order to put these algorithms into practice, suicide prevention coordinators will be in place in some municipalities as early as 2024. Their duties will include monitoring and improving the algorithm and cooperation, organising assistance to relatives, raising awareness of the municipality's population about the possibilities of assistance, etc.
Last updated: 04-01-2024
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