UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Each year, more people killed themselves than by any other forms of violence, including war, terrorist activities and homicides, an official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

    Speaking on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day, WHO's Senior External Relations Officer Werner Obermeyer told reporters at a press briefing in New York that all cultures were affected by suicide.

    Every year, around 1 million people committed suicide, which made it the 10th leading cause of death in the world, he said. In 90 percent of cases, the cause of suicide was related to mental disorders, such as depression and substance abuse.

    Suicide prevention required a multisectoral approach involving education, labor and the media, among others, he said.

    Brian Mishara, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), stressed that suicide was preventable.

    Mishara said that, despite the high rate, little attention was paid to the phenomenon. The suicide rate in European countries and countries in the Asian Pacific region were declining, however, because of national suicide prevention strategies. The highest risk group for suicide were men over 85 years old. That group, however, was now being targeted as a risk group.

    The theme of this year's World Suicide Prevention Day, observed annually on Sept. 10, is prevention in different cultures.

    "It highlights the fact that all cultures are affected by suicide and that the strategies that we are working on to prevent suicides should take this dimension into account," Obermeyer stated.