Congressional Briefing

Linking Data to Save Lives: How the National Violent Death Reporting System Is Helping to Prevent Suicide

The American Public Health Association, the Child Welfare League of America and the New York Academy of Medicine [see full list of cosponsors]

In cooperation with The Congressional Prevention Coalition Co-Chairs, Congressman Jim Leach (R-IA) and Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) invite you to a breakfast briefing

Breakfast buffet beginning at 9 a.m.; Program from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Friday, April 30, 2004
B-338 Rayburn House Office Building

More than 30,000 Americans take their own lives each year. That’s an average of one life every 18 minutes. And while a string of student deaths or a rock star’s overdose make headlines, more often, this quiet epidemic goes unmentioned.

Until recently, the absence of national data on suicide victims has forced providers and policymakers to rely on anecdote and isolated studies to guide their outreach and prevention efforts. Now, the new National Violent Death Reporting System at CDC is helping us put together the pieces of the puzzle, so that we can understand the circumstances and trends behind suicides and other violent deaths.

• What proportion of suicide victims are intoxicated at the time they kill themselves?
  
  
• How often is there a history of mental health treatment?
  
  
• What kinds of crises trigger suicides? How often do murder-suicides occur?
  

For the first time, we have the information to answer these questions and many others – using public health surveillance to dramatically increase our knowledge. Please join us for an important discussion of how this new tool sheds light on suicide in America and points us towards policies and programs that work to save lives.

Moderated by Alex Kelter, MD , Chief of Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control Branch at the California Department of Health Services.

Speakers:

Sue Binder, MD, Director, CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Stephen Hargarten, MD, Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Lanny Berman, PhD, Executive Director, American Association of Suicidology.

Catherine Barber, MPA, Co-Director, National Violent Injury Statistics System at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Event Cosponsors:

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Association of Suicidology
American College of Physicians
American College of Surgeons
American Psychological Association
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Association of School Psychologists
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association
Suicide Prevention Action Network

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