The National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy: An Inuit-led Approach to Suicide Prevention – Northern Public Affairs
The elevated rate of suicide among Inuit is a symptom of wider social challenges that have emerged only in the last several decades. Suicide among Inuit is a public health crisis whose roots we understand and have the responsibility to change. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) released the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy (NISPS) in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, in July 2016 to provide a coordinated, evidence-based, national response to what remains the most urgent challenge facing our people. The document is a tool for assisting community service providers, policymakers, and governments that are working to reduce the rate of suicide among Inuit in Inuit Nunangat to a level that is equal to or below the rate for Canada as a whole. The NISPS transforms our collective knowledge, experience, and research on suicide into action by setting out a series of interventions to address suicide risk factors among Inuit. It promotes a shared understanding of the context and underlying risk factors for suicide, and directs policy and investments at the regional and national levels in response to need.
