Restricting access to pesticides and firearms could prevent more than 120,000 suicide deaths in the Americas over a decade

A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, reveals that implementing policies to restrict access to highly hazardous pesticides and firearms could prevent more than 120,000 deaths by suicide in the region of the Americas over a 10-year period.

The research, conducted in collaboration with experts from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada, suggests that if restrictions on access to firearms or pesticides were applied in countries where they account for 40% or more of suicides, the mortality rate could be reduced by over 20% among males and 11% among females by 2030.

Annually, nearly 100,000 lives are lost to suicide in the Americas, and unlike other WHO regions, the suicide mortality rate has increased in recent years. Means restriction is an effective evidence-based intervention in suicide prevention, and a key strategy recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) under its "LIVE LIFE” approach to reduce suicide mortality.

"Suicide is preventable and each life lost is devastating," Anselm Hennis, Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at PAHO and co-author of the study said. "This study shows that effective policies that limit access to two of the most common methods for suicide can have an impact on reducing mortality in the region," he added.

Using data modeled from 2020 to 2030, the study estimates important impact in several countries. For instance, in El Salvador, Guyana, Nicaragua, and Suriname, where ingestion of highly hazardous pesticides led to 40% or more of suicides in each country in 2019, proactive restriction measures could substantially reduce suicide rates by 2030. Similarly, in the United States, where firearms accounted for over 40% of suicide deaths in the same year, implementing targeted restrictions is predicted to lead to a marked decline in suicide rates over the next decade.

The study concludes that the effective implementation of measures for restricting access to pesticides and firearms could prevent the loss of over 123,000 lives to suicide throughout the region of the Americas. 

The most notable reductions would be observed in the non-Latin Caribbean subregion, where the suicide mortality rate could be reduced by up to 31% among males and 34% among females if a specific restriction on highly hazardous pesticides were to be applied in three key countries: Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, in 2020.

"Implementing restriction measures is most effective when the methods are prevalent and account for a significant proportion of suicide deaths," Dr. Renato Oliveira e Souza, Chief of the PAHO Mental Health and Substance Use Unit, and co-author of the study said. "However, it is also crucial to consider the sociocultural context when implementing means restriction policies."

The researchers behind the study are calling for multisectoral collaboration to implement these evidence-based interventions to meet the WHO target of reducing the suicide mortality rate by one-third by 2030.

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This story was first published by PAHO.