WASHINGTON — Declaring suicide a serious public health problem, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher on Wednesday unveiled a national campaign to prevent suicide, which now claims more American lives than homicide.
"Suicide has stolen lives around the world and across the centuries," Satcher said. "Meanings attributed to suicide and notions of what to do about it have varied with time and place--but suicide has continued to exact a relentless toll."
The plan, modeled after an Air Force program that by the late 1990s had cut suicides within its ranks by half, calls for a broad-based communitywide approach to early intervention, counseling and other services.
Praising the Air Force plan, which was developed in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Satcher said that a national attack on the suicide epidemic comes none too soon.
More than 30,000 Americans take their lives annually, making it the nation's eighth-leading cause of death. Among young people, the rate has tripled since 1952, making it the third-leading killer of those ages 10 to 24.
There are three suicides for every two murders, and suicide kills twice as many people as does AIDS.
"Only recently have the knowledge and tools become available to approach suicide as a preventable problem with realistic opportunities to save many lives," Satcher said, stressing that suicide can be prevented by the combined efforts of families, schools, doctors, states and the federal government.
The Air Force confronted a frightening escalation in suicides that accounted for nearly a quarter of all deaths among active-duty personnel from 1990 to 1994 and was the second-leading cause of death, after unintentional injuries.
Enlisting the help of federal health officials, the Air Force designed a program that emphasized early intervention and support services. They also trained unit leaders, chaplains and medical and mental health providers to recognize people at risk. The program was implemented in 1996.
By 1998, the suicide rate in the Air Force had dropped from 16.4 suicides per 100,000 members to 9.4.
To be sure, the military is a closed society with "the ability to impose the kind of discipline that's not available for the public at large," said a spokesman for Satcher. "Nevertheless, it proves such a program can work."
The surgeon general's suicide prevention report lays out a similar blueprint of public and private actions on a national scope, identifying goals for each segment of the community.
