On World Suicide Prevention Day, WHO calls for countries to step up their strategies One person dies every 40 seconds by suicide, and on World Suicide Prevention Day today, the WHO has released a new report detailing progress in prevention. While low- and middle-income countries saw the vast majority of suicides, high-income countries have the highest rate of suicides, at roughly 12 suicides per 100,000 people. Still, only 38 countries have national suicide-prevention strategies in place. One effective strategy, the WHO says, is to reduce access to pesticides, as these are often used in self-poisoning attempts. In Sri Lanka, for example, officials banned certain pesticides — measures that led to a 70% drop in suicides there between 1995 and 2015. The WHO is also calling for better reporting and monitoring of suicides — better data, the agency argues, will help design more effective prevention strategies.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (Español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.