New white paper calls for govt to set up national office dedicated to suicide prevention

A community group has urged the government to set up a national office dedicated to suicide prevention in Singapore. A white paper has been launched in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day. Other recommendations include suicide data monitoring and evaluation, more training on prevention, and the use of tech-based interventions. A research by Project Hayat found over 80% felt that suicide prevention is of national importance. However, less than a quarter said Singapore is doing enough to prevent suicide, while just over half knew how to access support services. CNA spoke to Project Hayat principal researcher and co-lead Dr Rayner Tan, who is also a visiting research fellow at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at NUS, and Mr Reshii Varma, a project participant and suicide survivor.