ABSTRACT
Suicide, the act of deliberately killing oneself, is often under-reported. It is one of the three leading causes of death globally among people aged 15-44 years. In 2000, around a million people died from suicide, a worldwide mortality rate of 16 per 100 000, or one death every 40 seconds. The World Health Organization estimates that more people die each year from suicide than in all the world’s armed conflicts. 1
Across the world, men are almost three times as likely to take their own life as women. 2 Male suicides have increased more rapidly than female suicides since 1950. 1
Suicide rates vary internationally. Some countries in South America and in the Middle East report suicide rates of 1 per 100 000 or below. The highest rates are in Eastern European and the former Soviet Union, with Russia and Belarus both reporting suicide rates over 60 per 100 000. 1 The UK had a mid-range male suicide rate of 17.5 per 100 000 in 2005. 3 In England, unlike the global picture, suicide rates have fallen across the whole population in recent years. 4 However, English men are still more likely to commit suicide than English women.
