Suicide prevention action plan and post suicide attempt case management in South Korea

ABSTRACT

The suicide rate in the Republic of Korea had peak rate in 2010 and has declined for seven years (2011-2017) before increase in last year (2018). The decline was due to a number of factors;1) some practical success in suicide prevention measures (paraquat ban and subway safety screen) by Suicide Prevention Law;2) progress in media guideline and national campaign;3) national level gatekeeper training(2 million) ;4) organization of national and local agencies for governing of suicide planning by suicide prevention Law. Suicide prevention in the Republic of Korea has been set as 100 Policy Tasks of new government at 2018 and the National congress passed new suicide prevention law that organize cross-governmental leadership led by Suicide Prevention policy committee headed by Prime Minister's Office. The government launched a new department of Suicide Prevention in Ministry of Health andWelfare, and published a new suicide prevention action national plan with 70% increase of suicide prevention budget with emphasis on collaboration at local and central level at 2018. Korea Suicide Prevention Center started supporting the emergency department-based case management program with 25 locations in 2013, and was expanded to 52 locations in 2018 and 85 locations in 2020 by central government budget. Disasters can increase suicide. According to the Korean National Police Agency statistics, the three main causes of suicide in Korea are mental health, economic, and health problems. Complex factors affect suicide rates, and according to a psychological autopsy at the Korea Psychological Autopsy Center in Korea, suicide deaths had an average of 3.9 stressors. We are concerned stress factors has aggravated during the COVID pandemic. In fact, according to Korea's online mental health survey by ministry of Health and welfare, the percentage of people who have thought about suicide has increased dramatically to 13.4% at NOV 2020. But fortunately, the provisional suicide death has been on the decline. The public-private mental health support group is promoting mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental Health Welfare Center and Specialist groups, including the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, are also participating in telephone mental health counseling the counseling case has reached 1.4 million, which is in high demand. The 3T model, which led to the successful quarantine in Korea, should also be applied to suicide prevention. Increase non-face-to-face contact to identify high-risk groups and provide customized services quickly.