In total, there are 37 countries in the Western Pacific Region, and it is home to around 1.9 billion people. The area contains a diversity of cultures and languages and stretches from Mongolia in the north through to New Zealand in the far south. The region encompasses a vast and diverse area with a wide range of cultures and languages, and has significant socio-economic divides of inequalities and widening disparities.
Over 700,000 people lose their lives to suicide every year – 200,000 of these deaths occur in the Western Pacific Region, accounting for around 25% of all suicides worldwide. Over 75% of all suicides in the region occur in low- and middle-income countries. However, within these figures, there is a wide disparity in the prevalence of suicide between countries. For example, the latest World Health Organization figures show that the suicide rate for Kiribati is 17.5 per 100,000 in 2019, with the figures for Tonga standing at 4.7 per 100,000 of the population. Research on suicide within the region is limited.
Regional aim
To establish a cross-regional collaboration of experts supporting a comprehensive, strategic approach to suicide prevention in each nation in the Western Pacific Region
Countries in the region
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macao SAR, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam.
It also includes the following territories and protectorates:
French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Pitcairn Island, Tokelau, and Wallis and Futuna.
Our Regional Coordinators and Regional Assistant work together as dedicated leaders, combining local insight, expertise, and collaboration to drive impactful suicide prevention efforts across the Western Pacific region, and can be contacted at globalinitiative@iasp.info.
