Japan's national suicide prevention efforts following the 1998 surge in the number of suicide deaths can be divided into three stages: the first stage administrated mainly by the health ministry (1998-2005), the second and transitional stage when it was upgraded to a full governmental issue (2005-2006), and the third and present stage following the promulgation of the Basic Act for Suicide Prevention in 2006. In June 2007, the General Principles for Suicide Prevention Policy (GPSP), a guideline on how the national government should act to promote suicide prevention, was announced, urging local governments to tackle the problem of suicide. The GPSP was set to be revised after around five years from its publication, and, thus, a revised GPSP was published in August of 2012. Based on the five years of challenges, the revised GPSP states that suicide prevention strategies should move on to more practical and community-oriented ones.
 The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), through its Center for Suicide Prevention, played a coordinating role in putting forward a proposal for the revision, working with 29 academic societies including the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN). In February 2013, by further developing the relationships with academic societies, etc., which were forged in the above-mentioned process, NCNP set up the Preparatory Committee for the Evidence-based Suicide Prevention Consortium in order to contribute to suicide prevention strategies from an academic perspective.
 Meanwhile, in the World Health Organization's 66th World Health Assembly held in May 2013, the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 was approved. Its core principle is "no health without mental health", and it has the following four objectives: (1) to strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health; (2) to provide comprehensive, integrated, and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings; (3) to implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health; and (4) to strengthen information systems, evidence, and research for mental health. In these, objective (3) includes a numerical target for the future global suicide rate. The WHO also plans to publish its first World Suicide Report on the World Suicide Prevention Day in September 2014.
 Today, suicide prevention forms an important part of mental health. The evolution of suicide prevention from mental health perspectives and its integration into society require comprehensive efforts.
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