Every 40 seconds: Global suicide rates at 800,000 per year, WHO says

Every 40 seconds: Global suicide rates at 800,000 per year, WHO says

One person dies as a result of suicide every 40 seconds, according to a new World Health Organization report released on Thursday, citing economic factors and noting that three times as many men as women kill themselves.

“Suicide is an amazing public health problem. There is one suicide every 40 seconds — it is a huge number,” said Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s mental health department, as she presented the report in Geneva.