The national strategy for suicide prevention in the Netherlands: on the road to zero suicides

Abstract

Abstract Background In the Netherlands, 1829 persons (11.6/100.000) ended their life by suicide in 2018. Two out of three suicides concern men, most of them in the age group of 50-55. Suicide amongst youth is rising, especially amongst youngsters between 10-25. Around 40 persons a day, predominantly young and female, are treated in Dutch hospitals after having attempted suicide. Only 40% of those who die by suicide have been in touch with healthcare professionals. These figures made the Dutch government to put in place a national strategy for suicide prevention. Methods This strategy follows the WHO's guidance and covers a range of measures in public health as well as in the health care sector. Its implementation is coordinated by “113 Suicide prevention”, the national centre of expertise on suicide prevention in the Netherlands. Results A broad package of measures is being implemented simultaneously, targeting the entire population as well as specific vulnerable groups, such as youngsters, persons with LGBT related issues and persons with mental health needs. We initiated several collective preventive measures, such as media guidelines for safe reporting, a public awareness campaign against stigma, reduction of access to deadly means or places; selective prevention initiatives, e.g. training over 3400 of gatekeepers to detect and address suicidal thoughts with desperate persons; and indicated suicide prevention strategies including screening, treatment and follow up of patients with suicidal behaviour in general practice or mental health hospitals. In this presentation the different components of the Dutch strategy for suicide prevention will be described more in detail, and experiences and first results of the different components will be addressed. Conclusions The relevance of the Dutch national strategy is related to the broad package of measures implemented simultaneously in many domains of society, but closely monitoring and evaluating the effect stays challenging.