World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is observed every year on September 10th. One of the leading causes of death globally is suicide. Every suicide is painful to the families and the society at large, it affects each one of us. Suicide may be prevented if the warning signs are recognised and timely support is provided to the individual. The International Association of Suicide Prevention declared “Creating Hope through Action” as the theme for this WSPD 2021.

A webinar on “Early identification of self-harm and its prevention among youths” was organised by the Department of Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal on 09th September 2021 through the online Google Meet platform for the students of Dr G. Shankar Government First Grade Women’s College, Udupi. Sixty-five students from First-year BCom attended the webinar held between 02:00 pm & 03:00 pm. Dr Sanjeev Kumar M, Assistant Professor, Centre for Psychosocial Support in Disaster Management, NIMHANS, Bengaluru was the Resource Person for the webinar. Dr Sanjeev spoke on the warning signs especially among the students and the risk factors involved. During his talk, he stressed the methods to deal with the sensitive issues faced by the students and youth. At the end of the session, an interactive session was held between the speaker and the participants. Mrs Flavia S Noronha, Lecturer, MCON welcomed the audience and introduced the theme of WSPD – 2021. Ms Sanju Pant, Lecturer, MCON, introduced the speaker and Mrs Savitha Prabhu delivered the vote of thanks.

An awareness talk and an interview in multi-linguistic mode on “Prevention of suicide in vulnerable populations” through All India Radio (AIR) was aired on 08.09.2021, 11.09.2021, 12.09.2021 at 5 pm and 13.09.2021 at 9 pm. The speakers were Ms Swathi and Ms Shetty Swathi from II yr PBBSc Nursing, Mrs Flavia S Noronha and Mrs Savitha, Faculty, MCON, MAHE.