The deadly shooting rampage that claimed the lives of three men at the Islamic Center of San Diego, United States, on Monday, serves as the most recent example of the toll that suicide is taking on young people.

Two teenagers — 17 and 18 years old — attacked the men at the mosque and then killed themselves, leaving behind a suicide note. Two hours earlier, the mother of one of the shooters had tried to warn police that her suicidal son and a companion had taken several guns from her home.

Just yesterday the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the regional arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), reported that suicide among adolescents and young adults was on the rise in the Americas.

Warning of the urgent need for suicide prevention, PAHO said that more than 18,000 young people, aged 10 to 24, died by suicide in the region in 2021. Since 2000 the suicide mortality rate in the general population of the Americas has increased by more than 17 per cent, making the region the only one in the world where this trend continues to rise.

Jamaica has not escaped the trauma of that dreadful malady.

The suicide rate here averages roughly 2.4 per 100,000 of the population, with the absolute number of reported cases totalling 67 in 2024. Males account for more than 90 per cent of cases recorded.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force reported 44 cases of suicide between January and September 2025. This reflected a 16.9 per cent decrease year-on-year, but drew attention to a troublesome mid-year surge, especially from July to September.

To demonstrate the impact of suicide, PAHO said that suicide remains the third cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 24, based on a new study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.

It is noteworthy that the latest incidence increase has been faster among females, with the sharpest rise observed in the adolescent age group, raising urgent public health concerns.

“The fact that the suicide rate among young people has risen 38 per cent in just over two decades — compared to a 17 per cent increase in the general population — is a wake-up call,” said PAHO Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa.

The report highlighted several factors that may be associated with this increase, including mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety appearing at younger ages; substance use; excessive exposure to digital environments and cyber-bullying; social pressures; and easy access to lethal means, like guns.

Ever proactive, PAHO launched the Regional Suicide Prevention Initiative in 2025 to support countries in implementing evidence-based interventions, with hopes of strengthening national plans, expanding access to mental health services, and reducing stigma around mental health and suicide.

Mercifully, PAHO says there is clear evidence that many of these factors are preventable or treatable, especially when identified early, requiring stronger detection and interventions in schools and communities.

Still, the call by specialists from PAHO and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in New York for promoting responsible media reporting on suicide and collaboration across all sectors has not been lost on us here at the Jamaica Observer.