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Fourth annual report on progress in implementing the national suicide prevention strategy for England, 2006

  • Document type:
    Annual report
  • Author:
    National Institute for Mental Health in England
  • Published date:
    11 April 2007
  • Gateway reference:
    7911
  • Pages:
    28
  • Copyright holder:
    Crown

The suicide prevention target is to reduce the death rate from suicide and injury (and poisoning) of undetermined intent by at least a fifth by the year 2010 (from the Our Healthier Nation baseline rate of 9.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 1995/6/7 to 7.3 deaths per 100,000 population in 2009/10/11).

Latest available data (for the 3 years 2003/4/5) show a rate of 8.5 deaths per 100,000 population – a reduction of 7.4% from the 1995/6/7 baseline.

Key points

  • The suicide rate for the single year 2005, the most recent available, was the lowest recorded, reversing the slight rise in 2004.
  • The overall rate of suicide amongst the general population is at the lowest rate on record.
  • An encouraging fall in the rate of suicide amongst young men under the age of 35. There is now clear evidence of a sustained fall in suicide amongst this group.
  • A fall in the rate of self-inflicted deaths in prisons to 70 in 2005/6, a 17 per cent reduction compared with last year. For the first time the 20% reduction originally set in the national strategy was met.
  • A fall in the number of suicides amongst mental health in-patients from 217 in 1997 to 154 in 2004 (the most recent year for which figures are available).

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