UK PM May appoints suicide-prevention minister

Britain's prime minister Theresa May has appointed a suicide-prevention minister as part of a national effort to reduce the number of people who take their own lives on National Mental Health Day.

The appointment comes as ministers and officials from more than 50 countries assemble in London for the summit.

Wednesday's meeting - hosted by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - coincides with World Mental Health Day.

Theresa May named Jackie Doyle-Price to the newly created post at a mental health summit. She also pledged 1.8 million pounds ($2.4 million) to ensure the Samaritans charity can continue to offer a free counselling hotline.

Mrs Doyle-Price, who has been an MP since 2010, will now become the minister for mental health, inequalities and suicide prevention.

As health is devolved separately to the UK's four nations, her role will include making sure each local area in England has effective plans to stop unnecessary deaths and to look into how technology could help identify those at risk.

She said she understood the "tragic, devastating and long-lasting" effect of suicide on families, having met some of those bereaved.

"It's these people who need to be at the heart of what we do," she added.

Some 4,500 people take their lives every year in England.

The Campaign Against Living Miserably, dedicated to preventing male suicide, described the appointment as groundbreaking.

CEO Simon Gunning says the move helps by "shining a light on suicide and its devastating effects, destigmatizing the issue, and continuing to build support for all those affected across the U.K."