DHAKA, Sept 09, 2026 (BSS)- World Suicide Prevention Day will be observed tomorrow with various programmes aimed at preventing the act of intentional death.

The day is being observed every year on September 10 around the world since 2003.

The International Association for Suicide Prevention, the World Health Organization and the World Federation for Mental Health work together to observe the day.

This year’s theme is- “Changing the way we see suicide- break the silence, talk about hope, save lives.”

According to a Lancet study, 8.1 people per 100,000 population committed suicide in Bangladesh in 1990.

The figure declined to 3.66 per 100,000 in 2021 which in number is 6,050.

with financial support from the Non-Communicable Disease Control Programme of the Directorate General of Health Services.

According to a national survey of the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB) a total of 20,505 people died by suicide in Bangladesh in 2023.

On average, 56 people died by suicide somewhere in the country every day. The suicide rate was 12.4 per 100,000 people.  In 2016, 23,868 people died by suicide, with a rate of 14.7 per 100,000 people.

On the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day, the Bangladesh Association of Psychiatry (BAP), Bangladesh Medical Students Society (BMSS), the Department of Psychiatry of Bangladesh Medical University (BMU), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) organised a rally and scientific seminar.
Besides, University Women’s Federation will organise a rally and seminar tomorrow morning to mark the day.