NEED FOR NEWER EXPERIMENTS IN STRENGTHENING EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

Suicide is a global public health problem and one of the leading causes of premature death for all ages. Studies show that only 25% suicide has been within health care system, we have no information about the rest 75%. To bring more people at risk for suicide is an urgent requirement which makes a strong argument education and awareness.The WHO acknowledged that suicide prevention requires intervention from outside the health sector and calls for an innovative, comprehensive multi-sectorial approach, including both health and non-health sectors, e.g. education, labor, police, justice, religion, law, politics, the media. . Early identification of at-risk individuals has the great potential of saving large number of lives, thus effective evidence-based professional training programs and community outreach programs aimed at enhancing competencies in intervention and prevention are needed. In one of our own study of needs assessment of primary care physicians in India it was found that majority of healthcare professionals (64%) received no formal training in suicide prevention during their degree program, nor did they acquire it later. 63% of the participants do not ask about suicidal ideation. Their level of confidence and competence for identification and intervention was only moderate and agreed with requirements of more education. Studies from educational institutions show that at least 15% students have acute mental health problems and teachers are able to recognize them, however they do not know to provide basic interventions. Newer experiments are necessary. In that respect internet can certainly play an important role in education. . Effective utilization of the internet in the field of mental health education can bring hope to people who are keen to learn but have no resource. Web-based education can be a change maker in educating and training .This paper discusses experience and experiments in the field of education for resource developmen