Preventing suicide through pesticide regulation

Restriction of access to highly lethal and commonly used suicide methods is one of the few proven approaches available to governments to reduce overall suicide rates. In high-income countries, the approach has largely focused on restricting the sales of, or withdrawing, medicines that are commonly taken in fatal overdoses, restricting access to guns, and making high-risk locations (such as bridges) safer. In low-income and middle-income countries, where pesticides are a common means of suicide, it has focused on government actions to remove highly hazardous pesticides from agriculture.