The Partnerships for Life Global Initiative to Prevent Suicide completed its first five years of activity at the end of 2025. Significant progress has been achieved, with new members coming on board to give fresh impetus as it begins its next phase.
The Association would like to thank Professor Steve Platt and Ms Vanda Scott OBE for their tireless leadership of the initiative during its initial phase. Significant progress has been achieved in advocacy and global cross-learning, which has been transformative within the field. Both now take a step back with the gratitude of the association.
Professor Mark Sinyor, psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, was appointed as the new Global Lead at the beginning of this year. Previously the regional coordinator in the Americas region, his role in the region has now been taken on by three co-leads: Dr Karen Scavacini, CEO of the Vita Alere Institute for Suicide Prevention and Postvention, Brazil leads in the south of the region; Dr Elizabeth Seaward is a clinical psychologist and president of ACEPS, the Asociación Costarricense para el Estudio y la Prevención del Suicidio (Costa Rican Association for the Study and Prevention of Suicide) leads in central America and the Caribbean; while Richard McKeon, Public Health Advisor at SAMHSA in the United States of America, leads the north of the region.
In Europe, Professor Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Professor in Public Health, Leiter, Unit Public Mental Health, Medizinische Universität Wien, continues in the leadership role which he has undertaken since 2022, and is now joined by Professor Vita Poštuvan as regional co-coordinator. Vita is a psychologist and Deputy Head of the Slovene Centre for Suicide Research (UP IAM) at the University of Primorska, Slovenia.
In the Southeast Asia Region, Anish Cherian, Additional Professor at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, India, has assumed the leadership role in the region. He is supported by Vikas Menon, Professor of Psychiatry at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India, and Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, consultant psychiatrist, founder of SNEHA, and the Head of the Department of Psychiatry in the Voluntary Health Services in Chennai, India.
In the Western Pacific, Professor Kairi Kõlves of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) at Griffith University, Australia and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention has taken on the leadership role in the region. We are grateful to Professor Paul Yip, Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Hong Kong University, Chair Professor of Population Health at the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, and the Director of the HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP), as he supports the sub-regional leadership transition as he steps back as Regional Coordinator.
Likewise, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, we are grateful to Professor Murad Khan, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Psychiatry and Lead Scientist in Suicide Research & Prevention at the Brain & Mind Institute (BMI), Aga Khan University, Pakistan, for his support in securing new leadership in this region.
In Africa, Professor Joseph Osafo, Professor in clinical/health psychology and lecturer at the University of Ghana, and Head of the Department of Psychology, Ghana, remains the regional lead.
As the Partnerships for Life enters its next chapter, the initiative looks forward to building on these strong foundations, strengthening global collaboration, and accelerating collective action to reduce suicide worldwide.
