Prevention strategy helps suicide rate to all-time low

The suicide rate in England has fallen to an all-time low, the Department of Health said today in the first annual report on its prevention strategy.

Louis Appleby, the mental health tsar, said that the 4,500 suicides last year were still too many, but measures to discourage drug overdoses and attempted hangings in psychiatric hospitals were starting to take effect.

Deaths from suicide and undetermined injury fell from 9.2 per 100,000 people in the three years 1995-97 to 8.9 in 2000-02. The government's target is to cut this to 7.4 by 2009-11.

It presents the figures as three-year averages to iron out year-on-year fluctuations.

The report said the people most likely to commit suicide were young men, with more than 1,300 aged 19 to 35 taking their own lives in England each year. Suicide had overtaken road accidents as the biggest killer of young men in this age group.

Professor Appleby said: "Whilst we must always be cautious when interpreting changes in suicide statistics, the current downward trend is positive news. It is especially encouraging to see the first signs that young male suicides are falling aswell."

Measures taken included reducing the size of packs of aspirin and paracetamol to reduce the risk of impulsive overdoses and removing non-collapsible structures such as beds and shower rails from psychiatric wards.

Prof Appleby added: "To understand what can be done to prevent suicide, we need to understand the variations in risk, and the actions we can take to prevent risk.

"For example, we know that men in unskilled occupations are four times more likely to commit suicide than those in professional work. Other risk factors include unemployment, relationship breakdowns, social isolation, access to means and substance misuse."