World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was established in 2003 in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is a significant advocacy and communication based event aimed at reaching national organisations, governments and the general public, giving a singular message that suicide can be prevented.
WSPD is considered an effective tool in these efforts and the WHO Report: Preventing Suicide: a Global Imperative (WHO, 2014) marks it as a policy achievement, stating:
'This day has spurred campaigns both nationally and locally and has contributed to raising awareness and reducing stigma'.
WSPD continues to grow year on year, with recent years seeing the day observed in more than 60 countries with hundreds of events ranging from educational and commemorative events to press briefings and public conferences. The Internet and Social Media coverage has ensured millions of people around the world are linked to WSPD on September 10th and in 2020 the IASP produced Step Closer film was viewed over 30 million times. Recent WSPD Impact reports can be viewed here.