Regional Aim
To establish a cross-regional collaboration of experts supporting a comprehensive, strategic approach to suicide prevention in each nation in the Americas.
Countries in the region
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela
About the Region
The region consists 35 countries throughout the 2 continents including the Central American region between them, spanning the northern and southern hemispheres. The Americas have a population of almost a billion people with major languages being English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch. Within the nations that make up this region there is a huge diversity of cultures and range of high, middle and low income countries.
Across the Americas, on average, 98,000 yearly suicide deaths were reported from 2015 to 2019, with the suicide rate in North America and the non-Hispanic Caribbean higher than the regional rate. About 79% of suicides in the region occur in males. The age-adjusted suicide rate among males is more than three times higher than in females. Suicide is the third-highest leading cause of death among young people aged 20 to 24 in the Americas. It is noted that the data from this huge and diverse region is neither consistent or reliable from all countries especially in the more socio economic challenged areas.
The leadership has been selected from North America (Canada) providing the widest potential support and mental health inter-continental connections in order to strengthen a working and viable collaboration.
Regional Coordinator
Dr Mark Sinyor
Dr. Mark Sinyor is a psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.
He is the founder of PROGRESS (the Program of Research and Education to Stop Suicide) at Sunnybrook and is a recent former Vice President of the board of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. He is lead author of the Canadian Psychiatric Association recommendations for responsible media reporting about suicide. A major focus of his research is mental health literacy and has developed a curriculum for middle schoolers teaching distress tolerance using the Harry Potter novels which has been successfully piloted in Ontario. His research has been featured in Time Magazine, BusinessWeek, CBC’s the National and Radio One, CTV and Global News.
Meet the Team
Photo and Bio
Photo and Bio
