Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of suicides by young men.

Alistair Burt

We know that men are three times more likely than women to die by suicide. The cross-government suicide prevention strategy, Preventing Suicide in England, identifies young men as a high risk group to prioritise suicide prevention activities.

The strategy also recognises that schools, social care and the youth justice system have an important contribution to make in suicide prevention by promoting mental wellbeing and identifying underlying issues such as bullying, poor self-image and lack of self-esteem.

We provide financial support for the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and work with a range of experts and partner organisations to deliver suicide prevention activities across all age groups, including young men. I will be meeting experts again shortly to advance the strategy.