Global suicide prevention from the perspective of an international university in Kazakhstan [Presentation]

Abstract

According to reports by the National Police Agency in Japan, there were 32,863 suicides in 1998, representing an abrupt increase of over 8,000 from the previous year. The number of suicides remained at that level after 1998, but in 2015 it decreased to 24,025, thus returning to the level in 1997 prior to its abrupt increase. In addition, the number of suicides in 2018 decreased further from the number in 2015. Japan still has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, but that rate is definitely decreasing. According to the WHO report on the top 20 countries with the highest suicide rates, Kazakhstan has the thirteenth highest overall suicide rate worldwide. Kazakhstan has the thirteenth highest suicide rate for men, though the suicide rate for women is outside the top 20. In other words, Kazakhstan needs to continue implementing effective suicide prevention measures. To that end, suicide prevention measures that have proven effective in Japan and other countries around the world need to be ascertained and methods of studying those measures need to be understood. Moreover, specific suicide prevention measures suited to Kazakhstan also need to be devised. This lecture will describe Studies related to suicide, including research we have conducted in Japan, and research on suicide around the world, Suicide prevention measures that have been effective in Japan and how those measures were devised, Use of big data, a topic of particular interest worldwide over the past few years, in epidemiological research on suicide and studies involving big data in Northern Europe, Psychological autopsies, and Studies around the world in areas related to suicide and effective suicide prevention measures. Based on Statistical data and previous studies on suicide in Kazakhstan, suicide prevention measures that might prove effective in Kazakhstan will be suggested and research methodologies will be proposed. A single organization or personnel in a single field has limits on the suicide prevention campaigns and studies of suicide it can conduct. Personnel with various perspectives and in various areas, such as those in the sciences or in the humanities, personnel in various professions, and personnel in multiple areas and multiple organizations, need to collaborate to prevent suicide.