The Investigation of Suicide in Malta

Suicide is a complex human behaviour and a public health problem that is not inevitable but preventable. The study of suicide has always been geared into gaining insight and knowledge of the subject with the primary purpose of improving prevention capabilities. This study aimed to provide an overview of the nature and characteristics of suicide in Malta by examining police reports of all the 359 recorded cases of suicide within the fifteen-year period between 2003 and 2017 and to provide the police with a practical data collection tool for use in future suicide investigations.