For Shawna Nielson's sake. For Duncan Moody-Bronston's sake. For the 1,440 Utahns a year who land in hospitals after attempting suicide and the hundreds more who end up in cemeteries after succeeding.

The state of Utah stands poised to take comprehensive action to prevent suicide among its residents — an issue considered epidemic in its proportions.

Today, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Utah first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman and numerous advocates in the battle against suicide will announce a suicide-prevention strategy that touches all segments of Utah society.

"This is a huge step forward," said Sherri Wittwer, executive director of the Utah chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"Suicide is preventable. Lives can be saved," the Utah Suicide Prevention Plan states in a letter signed by Wittwer and Ron Stromberg, an assistant director in the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. The 49-page report is a "blueprint for policy makers, legislators and concerned citizens in focusing suicide-prevention efforts and serves as a starting point in creating a united effort in saving lives."

Last year, the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health contracted with the Utah chapter of NAMI to design a suicide-prevention plan that considered all ages and the cultural diversity of Utah. Today's announcement details that plan.

One of the most important pieces of the plan calls for improved access to mental-health care. "We want to acknowledge the 'elephant in the room,' which is the lack of resources available to consumers seeking mental-health care," the report states.

Michelle A. Moskos, a suicide expert and assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine's Intermountain Injury Control Research Center, agrees.

"If we really want to prevent suicide, the state needs a plan like this to provide accessible and affordable treatment for the mental-health conditions that lead to suicide, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression," she said Wednesday.

Providing more treatment requires legislation for better access and coverage for all Utahns with mental-health issues that precede suicide. Two-thirds of Utahns who die by suicide do not access mental-health treatment for up to a year prior to their death, Moskos said.

And suicide prevention cannot focus only on intervention when someone thinks about suicide, attempts it or actually takes his or her life, she said. "From that point, at best, you put a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound."

One year ago, The Deseret Morning News published a six-day series titled "Teen suicide: Utah's grim reality." The project explored the dynamic of suicide — often blanketed by a taboo of silence — and the implications for an issue that the Utah Department of Health considers to be of epidemic proportions in the state. Every week, six Utahns kill themselves.