WASHINGTON — Three veterans killed themselves last week on Department of Veterans Affairs health care properties, barely a month after President Trump announced an aggressive task force to address the unremitting problem of veteran suicide. A 2015 measure that required officials to provide annual reviews of mental health care and suicide prevention programs has found that veterans often receive good mental health care at many Department of Veterans Affairs centers — but that has not decreased suicide rates. A relatively new program, known as the Mayor’s Challenge, that helps city and state governments reach more veterans through more public health programs via Veterans Affairs partnerships has shown some promise, but no data exists yet demonstrating suicide reductions. While the V.A. All of these contribute to the drastically increased suicide rate among all Americans, which rose 33 percent from 1999 to 2017.

Source: New York Times April 14, 2019 14:48 UTC