UCC foundation is redesignated by the WHO

THE University College Cork-based National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) has been redesignated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a collaborating centre in suicide research and prevention.

The NSRF is one of five such research centres recognised globally by the WHO as collaborating centres in suicide research and prevention.

WHO Collaborating Centres (WHOCC) are institutions which are designated by the WHO to carry out activities in support of its programmes at country, intercountry, regional, interregional, and global levels.

The NSRF will be redesignated as a WHO Collaborating Centre until December 2027, having been a WHO Collaborating Centre for eight years following its initial designation in December 2015.

The research centre has provided technical advice to inform WHO’s work in establishing surveillance systems of self-harm and suicide, as well as in implementing and evaluating national suicide prevention programmes.

The NSRF is primarily funded by the Government through the Department of Health and the HSE as part of Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide 2015-2024, and has a Memorandum of Collaboration with UCC where it is based.

“The redesignation of the NSRF’s WHOCC is a reflection of the specialist expertise and high-quality research in the area of self-harm/suicide surveillance and suicide prevention, which has been crucial in making a difference in a growing number of other countries globally,” chief scientist at the NSRF and head of the School of Public Health at UCC, Professor Ella Arensman, said.

Dr Alexandra Fleischmann of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at the World Health Organization highlighted how WHOCC are essential to WHO fulfilling its mandated activities and ensuring the scientific validity of its global health work.