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In official relations with
the World Health Organization
President:
Vice President:
Vice President:
Prof. Brian Mishara
Prof. Heidi Hjelmeland
Prof. Kees van Heeringen
Treasurer:
General Secretary:
National Rep:
Organisational Rep:
Prof. Thomas Bronisch
Assoc. Prof. Annette Beautrais
Dr Murad Khan
Dr Jerry Reed
newsbu l l e t i nI n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n f o r S u i c i d e P r e v e n t i o n
O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9
FROM THE PRESIDENT In 1996 the World Health Organization and the United Nations issueda report, Prevention of Suicide: Guidelines for the Formulationand Implementation of National Strategies, calling for the deve-lopment of national strategies to address this global health problem.Of significance was the notion that suicide prevention plans mustcombine investments in scientific research, education and politicalwill. This landmark report was a guiding factor in the creation of thefirst U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention in 2001.
In the United States and elsewhere, most public health problemsaren't adequately addressed, nor mortality reduced, without a vocalconstituency advocating for the required attention and resources. This has been true of breastcancer and HIV/AIDS and it is reasonable to think that the same will be true of suicide prevention.
Fast forward to 2009 and to the announced merger of two leading suicide prevention organizations- the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the Suicide Prevention ActionNetwork USA (SPAN USA). The merger combines AFSP's research and education expertise withthe public policy and advocacy expertise of SPAN USA, which includes passage of U.S.Congressional resolutions re-cognizing suicide as a national problem and leadership in thepassage of mental health parity legislation.
FFSP's core strength has been its support of scientific research and over the last decade itseducational programs and initiatives to support those at risk for suicide and survivors of suicideloss. AFSP has established a network of 38 chapters to serve states and communities, with adozen more expected by 2011. These chapters, along with AFSP's Out of the Darkness walks,present new opportunities for grassroots advocacy. Five years ago there weren't any walks; thisyear 50,000 people will walk in 190 walks and 250,000 family members and friends will sponsorthem. Generally, walkers have been im-pacted by suicidal behavior or completed suicide andhave decided to get involved. They raise awareness and funds and represent a growing constitu-ency for suicide prevention. As one walker recently expressed it, “we won't allow suicide tocontinue to be ignored.”
An initial goal of the merger is to advance suicide prevention within the current U.S. debateon health reform by advocating for expanded coverage of, and access to, treatment for mentaldisorders, support for mental health checkups across the lifespan and better coordination ofcare for suicide attempt survivors and individuals with mental disorders. The long-term goalis to establish an aggressive policy agenda for suicide prevention at national, state and locallevels.
Suicide is a serious problem in the United States with 33,000 reported deaths and an estimatedone million attempts annually. It's the third leading cause of death for those 15 to 24 years ofage and fourth among those 18 to 65 years of age. Despite these facts, prevention research andprograms suffer from a lack of funding and misconceptions and stigma continue to surroundsuicide. The AFSP/ SPAN USA merger looks to change this by strengthening grassroots advocacyand exerting greater influence on policies and legislation … providing the political will to makesuicide prevention a nationalpriority in the U.S.
Brian L. Mishara, Ph.D [email protected]
As the end of my mandate as President is approaching, I am pleased that I willbe leaving the Board with the organization having a much more active presenceon the world scene. World Suicide Prevention Day activities around the globe havebeen expanding exponentially. If you have not visited the IASP Website recentlyand looked at the photo display of WSPD activities, you are missing a beautifulexample of how suicide prevention in different cultures embodies the spirit andenthusiasm that inspire us to continue our work. Overall, the IASP website hasbeen greatly expanded, it is rising in Google priority, and increasingly, our site isproviding useful information on suicide prevention around the world.
Our journal, CRISIS, will expand by 50% to 6 issues a year in 2010, with minimumadditional costs to members. Several new IASP Task Forces have been added andtask force activities are greatly expanding (again, see the Website). New and revisedWHO Guidelines have been published based upon Task Force work and theseguidelines are now being published jointly by IASP and WHO. The Asia-PacificRegional Conferences have been impressive successes and the IASP World Con-gress in Montevideo at the end of October has participants from 48 countries andexcellent attendance, despite the current economic situation. For the first time wewill have translation in Spanish and English in all plenary and parallel sessions,with translation also into Portuguese in several rooms. The Montevideo congressconstitutes a return to Latin America after many years and I hope that IASP sponsoredevents in the area will become much more frequent. By the end of this year, ourfirst pilot-programme in helping developing countries in suicide prevention trainingwill take place in Uganda, and I am pleased to be involved in this project as a trainer.
One of the most important developments is the establishment of a permanent IASPCentral Office in Oslo, Norway. This office is scheduled to start functioning in early2010 and will ensure the stability of the organization in the years to come VandaScott, who has done an exceptional job of running the Central Office from her homein France, will be coordinating the move. She is working with Kenneth Hemmerick,who designs and is webmaster for IASP's site, to establish an electronic archiveand database in a sort of virtual office to be accessible by Central Office and IASPofficers.
Still, there are many challenges ahead. We are looking for a venue for the 2012Asia-Pacific Regional Congress (if you are interested, please let us know). We mustalso develop new mechanisms for handling the increasingly complex requests anddemands upon the organization. Our relationship with the World Health Organizationand collaboration in future projects, where we are the only organization involvedin suicide prevention who is in official relations, will need to be clarified with changesin WHO mental health division staff. Also at WHO, although suicidal behavioursare named as one of the major causes of injury worldwide, the injury preventiondivision of WHO and the International Violence Prevention Alliance have chosento focus on other-directed violent behaviors and pretty much ignore the relationshipbetween suicide and other violent acts and their common risk factors. Suicide andsuicide attempts are still illegal in many countries and I hope that IASP will becomemore involved in promoting decriminalization of suicide worldwide.
Suicide still remains a major cause of premature death around the world and thereis much more that needs to be done. I am pleased to have been involved on theIASP Board and appreciate the opportunity to have worked with so many wonderfuldedicated people in the field. I look forward to continuing those relationships inthe future and I am confident that the new IASP Board will meet the many challengesand will develop new and exciting activities in preventing suicide worldwide.I am looking forward to seeing you in Montevideo.
Contributions for the news bulletin are welcomed from other
organizations. Please send any contributions to Dr Jerry Reed or contact
him for advice about preparing your report. [email protected]
The American Foundation for SuicidePrevention: Working to Create Political Will
Bob GebbiaExecutive Director,AFSP
newsbu l l e t i nI n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n f o r S u i c i d e P r e v e n t i o n
newsbu l l e t i n
WSPD 2009 was observed in more than 40 countries with morethan 100 educational and commemorative events, press briefingsand public conferences, while Internet, Facebook (IASP has morethan 700 fans!) and Twitter coverage ensured millions of peoplearound the world were linked to WSPD activities on September 10th.
WSPD was launched at the United Nations in New York with a PressConference for international journalists, and a three-hour publicconference which addressed the theme “Suicide Prevention inDifferent Cultures”. The American Foundation for SuicidePrevention, the JED foundation, Lifeline and other groups joinedwith IASP in publicizing the event and a record crowd overflowedthe UN conference room. People came to the conference not onlyfrom New York but from across the US. The person who made thelongest journey to the UN Launch was Professor Chi-Yun Lin,Professor at the Institute of Life and Death Education and Counselingin the Taipei College of Nursing, and Director of Taiwan Associationfor Caring and Counseling for Loss.
An amazing range of activities was undertaken to mark WSPD 2009.These are listed on the IASP website and provide exciting evidenceof the rapid diffusion of the WSPD concept, and inspirational ideasfor events in future years. Events on the theme of Suicide Preventionin Different Ccultures were held from the Vatican to Vanuatu,from Bangladesh to Belgium, and from China to the Cook Islands.We encourage you to read about these activities atwww.iasp.info/wspd, view the photo archive of events in differentcountries and submit any photos of your own to us(to [email protected])
This year IASP launched a new event, Light a Candle for SuicidePrevention at 8PM, designed to enable people to meaningfullyparticipate in, and support, WSPD even if there were no localactivities. We received many comments from people who thoughtthis was a wonderful idea.
S Y M P O S I U M C O N F E R E N C E S A N N O U N C E M E N T S
XXV IASP WORLD CONGRESSMONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
27–31 OCTOBER 2009The social program
will include a symphonyconcert 28th October at thenewly restored 150 year old
Teatro Solís
XXV IASPWORLD CONGRESS
Abstract submission closed on 10th April 2009. Veryearly birds registration closed on 31st March 2009.
Please see the website for otherimportant congress dateswww.iasp.info
WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY 2009
IASP CONGRESS MONTEVIDEOFriday 16th October is the deadline forpayments at the Secretariat of pre-registrations and hotel bookings, as wellas pre-bookings for transfers and theCongress concert. After that date, regi-strations will be resumed on Tuesday27th October at the Radisson Hotel at"On Site" costs. You will also be able tobuy Concert tickets on site.The shuttle airport transfer cost:US$ 20 - to be booked in advance.
IASP 2009 CONGRESS SECRETARIATPh. +598.2.9160900 / Fax +598.2.9168902Email: [email protected]
Joanne Harpel (AFSP), Dr Annette Beautrais (IASP) and Professor Chi-YunLin of Taiwan at the United Nations New York Launch of WSPD 2009
Kenneth Hemmerick IASP Webmaster
Kenneth Hemmerick is the IASP webmaster andresponsible for recent changes to the IASP websitewww.iasp.info
If you have not visited the website recently pleasedo so – Kenneth has worked to update the siteand added a large amount of very useful infor-mation. In addition, Kenneth worked tiredlesslyand with great enthusiasm and imagination topublicize World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD)in 2009, adding lists of activities and photo archi-ves to the website, and generating press, Facebookand Twitter publicity for both IASP and WSPD2009. The IASP website has benefited greatly fromKenneth’s artistic talents – he graduated withdistinction in Interdisciplinary Studies (Fine Arts)from Concordia University. To date, he has had27 solo, juried and group shows in Canada, theU.S., Argentina and South Korea. He has writtenmusic for six award- winning films and his videoproductions. In addition, he has had exhibitionsof his videos in Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Hisworks are owned by collectors in the U.S. Canadaand the UK. In 1998, he created Suicide PreventionHelp (www.suicidepreventionhelp.com), in the daysbefore Google, as he was concerned that there werewebsites encouraging people to commit suicide.He serves as a consultant, designer and Webmas-ter to the IASP in the development of their website.
On September 10thWorld SuicidePrevention Day
Light a candle neara window at 8 PM
to show your supportfor suicide prevention
to remember a lost loved one
and for the survivorsof suicide.
The International Association for Suicide Prevention Invites you toLight a Candle at 8 PM
World Suicide Prevention Day www.iasp.info
WSPD Switzerland WSPD Fiji WSPD India
