On Monday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced a National Suicide Prevention Strategy to reduce the rate of suicide mortality by 10% by 2030. Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya noted that suicides impact all sections of society and thus require concerted and collaborative efforts from individuals and the community at large. In his note, he pointed out that more than one lakh lives are lost every year to suicide, and it is the top killer in the 15–29-year-old category in India.

As per governmental records, the suicide rate has increased from 10.2 to 11.3 per 100,000 people in the last three years. The most common reasons for suicide include family problems and illnesses, which account for 34% and 18% of all suicide-related deaths, respectively.

The first-of-its-kind strategy in the country was launched to establish effective surveillance mechanisms for suicide within the next three years. The ministry stated that this will be followed by establishing psychiatric outpatient departments to provide suicide prevention services through the District Mental Health and integrating a mental well-being curriculum in all educational institutions within the next five and eight years, respectively.

Psychiatrist Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar, the founder of the Sneha Foundation, stated that the strategies should be implemented by the states to develop locally relevant action plans and then cascade back from the root level to the district, primary health, and community levels.