Local Community Support

Established as a means of information sharing for local governments during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japan Suicide Countermeasures Promotion Center (JSCP) has been conducting various trainings and meetings online. Training sessions for local government staff in charge of suicide countermeasures used to be held in a group format, but this has been made more difficult with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 21, 2020, JSCP co-hosted with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) an urgent online training for relevant local government staff nationwide, with approximately 600 people from 500 municipalities across Japan participating. MHLW and JSCP explained the impact of the pandemic (with regards to suicide risk) and relevant measures, with the participants sharing information with one another through the online chat function.

Many local governments in remote areas, which previously came to Tokyo during nationwide training sessions, have called for the continued holding of online training sessions, citing cost and time improvements. Since then, liaison and block meetings of Local Suicide Countermeasures Promotion Centers across Japan have been held online.

As both the number of suicides as well as the risk of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic has been increasing, local governments play a crucial rule in directly supporting the lives and livelihoods of local residents. JSCP will continue to plan up-to-date training sessions and liaison meetings, and share effective examples of suicide countermeasure efforts and the latest useful information with frontline local government staff.