Scotland set to host suicide conference

Published on Monday 21 January 2008 21:40

WORLD experts on suicide prevention are to take part in a major conference in Scotland.

The 12th European symposium on suicide and suicidal behaviour is to be held in Glasgow this summer.

The event, organised jointly by the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling, will bring together 400 leading researchers, clinicians and policy planners.

Figures show that, worldwide, someone takes their own life every 40 seconds, while in Scotland around two people a day kill themselves.

Conference organisers hope that sharing knowledge and experience of suicide prevention will help Scotland meet its target of cutting the number of such deaths by 20 per cent by 2013. The target was introduced as part of the then Scottish Executive's "choose life" strategy in 2002.

Dr Rory O'Connor, head of the suicidal behaviour research group at Stirling University, and co-president of the symposium, said: "It is a great coup for Scotland to host the bi-annual symposium on suicide and suicidal behaviour.

"This is the most prestigious suicide-prevention conference in Europe, and aims to improve our understanding and prevention of suicide and self-harm. It highlights that Scotland is leading the way in all areas of suicide prevention and research."

The conference, which is being run in conjunction with the Suicide Information Research and Evidence Network, is backed by the Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland. It takes place from 27 to 30 August.