During her intervention in parliament, MP Taina Bofferding of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) stressed that every preventable suicide must be prevented. She warned that the subject was still too often treated as taboo, arguing that the country needed to send a clear signal by speaking more openly about suicide and doing so without judgement.
She added that mental health should continue to be brought to the forefront, emphasising that society needed to learn to listen. Bofferding also urged the Minister of Health and Social Security Martine Deprez to continue raising awareness and to work towards much wider acceptance of mental illness in general, insisting that mental health must be valued just as much as physical health.
MP Ricardo Marques of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) underlined that a person in crisis usually lacks the energy to search for help, saying that people needed clear direction and an immediate, obvious place to call. For this reason, he advocated introducing a national number, specifically 119.
He explained that such a number should be staffed by a multidisciplinary team: psychologists, nurses, social workers, and possibly even doctors, whom he described as people who understand crisis situations and know how to respond quickly with empathy. According to Marques, they would be able to guide callers towards the appropriate service, be it emergency responders, hospitals, specialist helplines, or social support.
MP Marc Baum of The Left (déi Lénk) also welcomed the idea, arguing that the country lacked coordination rather than expertise, commitment, or funding. He said there was a need for a binding framework and a central structure capable of bringing all the different actors together.
The motion calling for a single national suicide‑prevention number was then adopted unanimously by all parties in parliament and supported by Minister of Health and Social Security Martine Deprez. Speakers from the Greens (déi gréng), the Democratic Party (DP), Pirate Party (Piratepartei), and CSV likewise stressed the importance of the issue.
Deprez also stated that the social third-party payment system for psychotherapy should be implemented as quickly as possible, followed by the generalised third-party payment system, which is a universal system of upfront coverage of medical expenses. She also noted that official statistics indicate an improvement in Luxembourg over recent years: in 2017, the suicide rate stood at 9.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 6.3 in 2023.
People experiencing suicidal thoughts can already seek help from SOS Détresse on 45 45 45. More information is available at www.prevention-suicide.lu.
