TOKYO, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The Japanese government has submitted a final draft of a policy aimed at preventing suicide among school-age children, officials said.
The outline will be used to establishes measures to prevent suicides by children and other young people, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday.
Such measures include a 24-hour hotline service and a third-party panel to investigate the causes of such suicides.
"The percentage of young people who committed suicide has increased and the number of students who committed suicide has been on the rise," the outline states.
Regarding school-aged children who have committed suicide, the outlines says, "We have to seriously consider that there may be bullying in the background."
Through the measures of the suicide-prevention outline, the government hopes to reduce the number of suicides by 20 percent by 2016.
The Cabinet is set to approve the policy outline early this week.
