Suicide and suicide prevention represent major public health challenges. The public health perspective juxtaposes a multifactor understanding of society's health phenomena to a mobilization around determinants on which actions can be taken. Public health has encountered success with infectious diseases as well as chronic diseases such as hypertension. In this article, the phenomenon of suicide is detailed with data drawn from Quebec, Canada and international research. Population-based suicide prevention policies are generally multimodal, and often involve strategies aiming at improving mental health services. The success of these strategies lies in their steady application and in the close surveillance of this application.