Panama recognizes suicidal behavior as an important epidemiological event for public health that must be reported. The General Directorate of Public Health of the Minsa will supervise, monitor, and evaluate the surveillance system for suicidal behavior. The introduction states that the system aims to identify, record, monitor, and systematically analyze events related to suicidal behavior, including suicide attempts and completed suicides. It is established that the health professional who detects a case must fill out an individual notification form for public health events and immediately notify the epidemiology coordinator of the respective health facility. The Ministry of Health (Minsa) and the Social Security Fund (CSS) will adopt the Surveillance System for Suicidal Behavior Norm, which was approved by Resolution No. 99 of February 11, 2026. The norm seeks to make this behavior visible, with the weekly publication of morbidity and mortality data from suicidal behavior and the preparation of a semi-annual and annual bulletin on the situation in Panama. The norm will be mandatory in all health facilities, public and private in the national territory, at all levels of care and degrees of complexity. For every death by suicide, it is estimated that there are eight suicide attempts. According to the system itself, in 2023, 118 deaths from intentional self-inflicted injuries were reported in the country, of which 105 were men and 13 women. Between the ages of 10 and 24, 23 young men and 4 young women took their own lives in the same year, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec).
Panama Implements Mandatory Suicide Risk Behavior Surveillance System
Panama's Ministry of Health has approved a new norm that makes suicidal behavior visible to the health system. The new rules require all health facilities to immediately report cases of suicide attempts and completed suicides. The goal is to systematically collect data to combat this problem at the national level.
