Through the Ministry for Health and Active Ageing, the government has launched a new National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

The five-year strategy will last until 2030 and will cost a total of €2.08 million.

This strategy is to function on six main strategic areas: promoting coordination and organisation amongst different stakeholders, improving support and treatment, restricting access to means to prevent attempts, invoking better awareness and knowledge on the subject matter, prevention and activities promoting mental health, and quality assurance and expertise.

It will look to better support the workforce, invest in the respective services and their delivery, continue collaboration with stakeholders, and promote mental health as a priority on par with physical health.

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said that this National Strategy aims to reduce the incidence of suicide through methods that promote general health and mental wellbeing. He called for the country to improve its support systems before commenting that “Malta is looking to create a supportive environment for individuals to seek help before it is too late.”

Minister Abela noted that all stakeholders, including individuals within the general public, must work to promote mental health and treat it as a priority in hopes that everybody can live a “satisfactory life.”

In practice, emergency services shall work to improve when dealing with high-risk groups and gatekeepers are to be trained to better deal with high-risk persons. Additionally, suicide hotspots are to be guarded and a safe hospital environment within Mater Dei Hospital is to be better enshrined for these cases; work in this regard has already begun at Mount Carmel Hospital.

To improve data collection on this subject, and thus, better inform policies and services, the government is creating a suicide mortality register.

Presenting the technicalities behind the Strategy, Antonella Sammut stated that suicide is a significant and complex public health problem. She said that suicides are preventable, though tragically, 700,000 lives are lost per year as a result of this. Sammut added that there are 20 suicide attempts for each death registered.

She described that the Maltese islands hold the second-lowest suicide rate in the European Union, behind Cyprus. Positively, suicide rates in Malta and in the EU overall are on a general decline in recent years. However, Sammut remarked that as we observe these statistics, it is important to remind oneself that every suicide is a tragedy.

Describing the efforts being promoted through this National Strategy, Dr. Sant spoke of the importance of responsible media reporting on this topic (when reporting is necessary). She also said that stakeholders shall be working to continue promoting mental health literacy, prioritise wellbeing across one’s entire life-course, and improve work with primary care.

It was noted that through the promotion of mental health literacy, people can become better equipped to identify these problems and seek assistance.

According to suicide statistics, there are nine male suicides for every female suicide. Demographically, the age bracket with the highest suicide rate are people between 45-64 years of age.

Some of the most prevalent sociodemographic risk factors identified over time – which were taken into account in the development of this national strategy – are for such persons to be males, between 30-60 years of age, whom are either single or separated, and/or are either unemployed or pensioners.

Several determinants for suicide were identified in the creation of this strategy, including what kinds of people are determined to be “at risk.” This refers to isolated people, people who engage in self-harm, and people who have family members with mental health issues. Hence, determinants can be noted on the sociocultural, biological, psychological, and environmental levels.

The most common ways for people to take their lives differed slightly amongst males and females. The most common method for male victims is through strangulation/hanging, followed by jumping from a height, and using a firearm. For women, jumping from a height is most common, followed by strangulation/hanging, and ingesting medication.

Anyone contemplating suicide is implored to seek help immediately. One may reach out by calling the government’s 24/7 Mental Health Helpline 1579 for free support.