KEY POINTS:
The Government today launched a suicide prevention "action plan" outlining a strategy for the next five years.
Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said it would help ensure suicide prevention initiatives were well planned and co-ordinated under the Ministry of Health.
"Five hundred lives a year - nearly 10 a week - end in New Zealand through suicide," he said at the launch.
"As many as are killed on our roads each year ... we can simply talk about the issue or we can do something about it."
He released two documents - the Summary for Action and the Evidence for Action.
The first provides details about the actions, including who is responsible for them, and the second provides details about the evidence and rationale for the actions.
The overall goals of the strategy are to promote mental health and well-being, improve the care of people who make non-fatal suicide attempts, reduce access to the means of suicide, promote the safe reporting and portrayal of suicidal behaviour by the media and expand the evidence about the rates, causes and effective interventions.
The money for the initiatives comes from last year's budget, which put $23 million into the task.
"We're getting runs on the board," Mr Anderton said.
"Suicide rates look like they are down 20 per cent since the late '90s."
He said not everything was known about how to prevent suicide, but enough was known for people to be able to make a difference.
- NZPA
