The Ministry of Health, together with Esperança en Línia, has launched this new service, under the name of 'Green line', to provide immediate attention to people who find themselves in this situation. Anyone who finds themselves in a situation of great emotional distress or expresses suicidal ideation or behavior can call the free phone number 177, through which they are offered immediate attention and the necessary services can be activated. This phone is active twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
This is a confidential and secure service aimed at all those people who are in a moment of vulnerability, offering them psycho-emotional support, guidance on the existing resources in the country in mental health, and, in the event of a high risk of suicide, it allows the activation of the appropriate emergency services, as explained by the Minister of Health, Helena Mas, during the presentation press conference. For this reason, when the person calls this telephone number, they will be answered and the level of suicide risk will be assessed. In the event of imminent risk, emergency services will be activated, while in other cases the person will be assisted and directed to the existing care and community resources in the country in matters of mental health.
“The best way to fight suicide is to inform and make available to citizens all these tools that aim to put the person at the center of the equation”, said Helena Mas. In order to launch this telephone helpline for the prevention of suicidal behavior, the Ministry of Health has signed a collaboration agreement with Esperança en Línia, which will be responsible for managing and providing the Green Line service. “We have the expertise of an entity, and its volunteers, that is responsible for managing this line for other Spanish public institutions,” explained Helena Mas.
For its part, the president of Esperança en Línea, Hope Esteve, explained that they have a team of volunteers specifically trained to deal with these situations and that in those places where it has been put into operation it has been very well received. “We work from a professional and community perspective that aims to offer an integrated response to alleviate the discomfort of the people who call us”, said Esperança Esteve.
This one hotline is part of the deployment of the Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health and Addictions (PISMA), which aims to accompany the country in the transformation of the existing model towards a new, more plural, interdisciplinary one, with the person at the center of the project and with the promotion of community care.
In this sense, Minister Helena Mas took advantage of the press conference to present the lines of action of the Ministry and the Andorran health care service, SAAS in the field of prevention of suicidal behaviors, as well as the protocols for action in the event of these. The Minister of Health also presented the data on people treated at the emergency service of the Nostra Senyora de Meritxell Hospital for attempted suicide, 40 in 2022 and 39 in 2023; and the data on completed suicides, registered by the Department of the Interior, 4 in 2022 and 5 in 2023.