Suicide prevention: the Plan prioritises women, young people and prisons
The Ministry of Health is working on a strategy aimed at the most vulnerable, as well as those who have lost a loved one, whilst a draft bill remains before a committee in the Chamber of Deputies
Key points
Women, teenagers and particularly vulnerable settings such as prisons. These will be the primary beneficiaries of the National Plan for Suicide Prevention in Italia, announced by the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. In Italia, according to figures reported by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), resulted in nearly 4,000 deaths in 2023.
Towards the Plan
The technical working group on mental health – coordinated by the psychiatrist Alberto Siracusano, president of the Higher Health Council – is currently working on the Plan. After 13 years of ‘inaction’, it has already produced the 2026–2028 National Mental Health Plan, two chapters of which are specifically dedicated to young people and detainees in REMS facilities. Within this framework, guidelines on depression are also currently being drawn up.
As for measures to tackle the risk of suicide, work is beginning on a policy document that ‘is currently being drawn up’, according to the Ministry. Priorities include strategies and interventions to strengthen prevention, early identification of at-risk situations and the provision of care. ‘We must intervene earlier, especially amongst the youngest and in situations of greatest vulnerability, and ensure appropriate and timely care pathways,’ states the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci.
It also highlights the need to focus on so-called ‘survivors’ – that is, those who have lost a family member or loved one to suicide and who require support and assistance. “Behind every situation of suffering there are people, families and communities. Strengthening prevention also means combating the stigma that still all too often surrounds mental health issues and fostering a culture of listening and seeking help,” adds Schillaci.
Bill stalled in the Chamber of Deputies
Meanwhile, the draft bill on suicide prevention and support for survivors is currently stalled in the Chamber of Deputies’ Social Affairs Committee (AC 1791), with Augusta Montaruli, Deputy Group Leader of Fratelli d’Italia in the Chamber of Deputies, as its lead signatory (and rapporteur for the draft bill). On the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day, she calls for “swift action”: “This is my final appeal to the Social Affairs Committee. Now that the deadline for tabling amendments has passed, the vote can no longer be postponed,” she warns. “The absence of a medical protocol for suicide prevention, of dedicated centres and of support policies represents a gap in our healthcare system that must be filled as soon as possible, without delay’, she adds, pointing out that ‘in Italia, there is not even an identification code for suicide attempts in A&E departments. Faced with the second leading cause of death among young people in Europe, continuing to ignore the problem is short-sighted and inexplicable’.
Post-pandemic data
In 2023, the ISS recorded 3,830 deaths by suicide in Italia amongst people aged 15 and over, a figure slightly lower than the 3,934 deaths in 2022, but one which “confirms that the risk has remained largely stable in the post-pandemic period, following the gradual reduction observed up until the end of the 2010s”, the Institute explains.
Around 75 per cent of deaths were among men, who face a risk almost four times higher than that of women. As for age, the latest data, covering the period 2019–2020, show an increase in risk with advancing age, which is particularly evident among men. In the post-pandemic period, a relative increase in suicide risk was also observed among young people under the age of 25.
