In 2015 the Luxembourg Government adopted the first National Plan for the Prevention of Suicide (PNPSL); Luxembourg's Minister of Health, Lydia Mutsch, has just announced two significant plans of action within this context.
The implementation of this plan is to combat the cause and consequences of suicide, to reduce the amount of suicide attempts and suicide related-deaths with 33 priority actions with partners in the field, and approved by the interdepartmental suicide prevention group.
In Luxembourg, the number of suicides is estimated at 80 cases per year. The situation is even more severe as the number of suicide attempts is 10 to 20 times greater than the estimated number of deaths.
Suicide is preventable and the means to reduce the number of yearly deaths are available.
The first initiative Minister Mutsch has announced is to support schools in their efforts of prevention and postvention as part of initiative 18 of the PNPSL. A practical guide will be supplied to school establishments in the event of a death or attempted suicide of a member of the school community. The guide contains recommendations in how to manage potentially traumatic events.
The second inniative focuses on the issue of how to practically address the death of a child, a family member or a close friend. A practical guide will inform readers of practical routes to take if they were to be affected. This is part of inniative 23 of the PNPSL.
All relevant documents can be found at www.sante.lu
