HHS releases national suicide prevention strategy, plan

The Department of Health and Human Services and National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, a public-private partnership whose members include the AHA, April 23 released a national strategy and federal plan to prevent suicide over the next 10 years. The updated strategy includes a new pillar prioritizing equity for populations disproportionately impacted by suicide. The new federal action plan includes identifying ways to address substance use and suicide risk together in the clinical setting; funding a mobile crisis locator for use by 988 crisis centers; increasing support for survivors of suicide loss and others whose lives have been impacted by suicide; and evaluating promising community-based suicide prevention strategies.

"We are pleased to release this National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, updated for the first time in more than a decade, with the best knowledge and practices to date that we have to offer," said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, HHS assistant secretary for mental health and substance use. "The need for this strategy is reflected in the heart-breaking and alarmingly high statistics surrounding suicide and suicidal ideation. This strategy is the product of an ongoing commitment, and we stand, hand-in-hand with people with lived experience, federal and private sector partners, and everyone committed to this work that will ultimately save lives."