An audit conducted by the auditor found that the funding was transferred to other sections of the Ministry of Health budget, rather than investing in finding students at risk of suicide or supporting suicide families. • It also shows that from 2014 to 2019, the budget was reduced by half.

The health ministry "cut" half of the national loss prevention program's budget and transferred NIS 59 million to the program for other budget items, contrary to its designation, the state comptroller's report released Monday said.

In 2014-2019, the Ministry of Health reduced the program budget from NIS 110 million to NIS 51 million. Instead of reducing the number of suicides, the money was used for "budget regulations or other office plans" and did not go to the partner offices (welfare education and more), according to a state comptroller's examination.

Ministry of Health Director General Moshe Bar Seaman acknowledged his response to the State Comptroller that instead of using money for suicide prevention he used it to cope with a transversal cut on the ministry. We found similar findings in "Israel Today" in August when we reported that millions of shekels were not transferred for student identification programs At risk of suicide and treatment of suicide families within the various government offices.

The Ministry of Health did set up a loss prevention unit and was supposed to lead a program that involves several government offices, but the auditor notes that the office did not regularly convene the program's steering team, did not formulate a multi-year work plan and made decisions alone and without the other offices involved. It was also found that the Ministry of Health has not formulated a procedure to ensure the continuum of care for populations at risk of suicide. Another operative step - reducing access to weapons for those with information that is at risk of suicide - has not yet been done.

The Comptroller also found that the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Immigration did not formulate work plans or collect data, no accompanying studies were done for the program. No goals and metrics have been set. Similarly, the Ministry of Education has not held suicide investigative committees and suicide attempts by school students since 2016.

In fact, by the end of the audit, the program operates in 71 local authorities out of 255 municipalities (about 28% of the number of municipalities in the country) and provides a response to 44% of the country's population.

"About six years after the start of the National Suicide Prevention Program, key components have not yet been implemented and its national deployment is quite limited. This is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, which was supposed to lead and integrate the national program, and its central partner offices." The recommendation: "The Ministry of Health must make sure and utilize the budget allocated to the program and establish rules with the Ministry of Finance on how to manage and utilize the joint budget," the auditor points out.

372 people put an end to their lives on average a year. 55 of the suicides are under 18, and suicide is the second cause of death among youth. A third of the suicide bombers are new immigrants.

In its reply to the State Comptroller's Office, the Ministry of Health stated in January 2020 that the Ministry is working to regulate the work of the inter-ministerial staff and to improve its work vis-à-vis the partner offices in accordance with the Ministry of Internal Audit's report on the matter.