World Suicide Prevention Day 2016

The first World Suicide Prevention Day was held in 2003 and was an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, World Suicide Prevention Day has taken place on 10 September each year.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 800,000 people die by suicide each year – that’s one person every 40 seconds. 

‘Connect, communicate, care‘ is the theme for 2016.  

These three words are at the heart of suicide prevention.

• Connect: Fostering connections, particularly with those that have lost a loved one to suicide or have been suicidal themselves.
• Communicate: Open communication is vital if we are to combat suicide. In many communities, suicide is shrouded in silence or spoken of only in hushed tones.  A common myth held by many communities is “if we talk about suicide, it will plant the seed in people’s heads”. This is untrue, we need to talk about suicide in a gentle and caring way, which is safe for all.
• Care: at every level, from policy makers to our neighbours, we need to look out for and care for each other.  We need to look out for others who may be struggling, and let them tell their story in their own way and at their own pace. Those who have been affected by suicide have much to teach us in this regard. 

As part of Le Va’s contribution towards supporting our Pasifika families and communities to connect, communicate and care, we are:

• supporting community events such as the Hope Walk in collaboration with Kiwi Daddys 
• relaunching useful resources which seek to give people the tools to connect, communicate and care.  You may access these useful tools by going to either our Facebook page or by visiting the FLO suicide prevention Knowledge Bank on our website.
• lighting a candle near a window at 8pm on the 10 September to show our support for suicide prevention – please join us and others around the globe.

To find out more and what others are doing globally, towards Suicide Prevention Day go to: https://www.iasp.info/wspd/