US Defense Secretary Calls for New Steps to Prevent Suicides in Military - Pentagon

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2023) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has instructed relevant bodies to improve accessibility to mental healthcare for the troops at home and abroad to prevent suicides in the military, the Pentagon said in an official memo.

"This Department's most precious resource is our people. Therefore, we must spare no effort in working to eliminate suicide within our ranks ... We will find new ways to support all who are in pain. And we will redouble our effort to do right by every member of our outstanding military community," Lloyd's memo, posted on Thursday, read.

The memo also lists such suicide prevention measures as help for those suffering from alcoholism and arranging weekly meetings with psychologists for them.

Among other measures proposed as part of the next step in suicide prevention is the creation of a Suicide Prevention Implementation Working Group, the memo said. The group is expected to identify policy and program changes needed to implement each recommendation, as well as to provide an estimated timeline to launch them.

In October 2022, the US Department of Defense said in a report that a total of 519 US military service members committed suicide in 2021 in continuation of the upward trend since 2011. Out of 519 who died by suicide in 2021, 328 were active-duty members, 74 were in reserve, and 117 were in National Guard, according to the report.