Portugal's 1411 Suicide Prevention Line Took About 25,600 Calls in Its First Year, Nearly 700 From People at Imminent Risk
The free SNS line opened on 10 September 2025. Women and 18 to 29 year olds call most, 80 percent of calls were answered in about 50 seconds, and 19:00 to 21:00 is the busiest time.
If you are thinking about suicide, or are worried about someone who is, you can call the SNS suicide prevention line on 1411, free, at any hour. In an emergency, call 112.
Portugal's national suicide prevention line, 1411, took about 25,600 calls in its first year. Almost 700 of them came from people judged to be at imminent risk of suicide, according to SPMS, the Health Ministry's shared services agency, which runs the line.
The figures were presented at the first meeting of the line's staff, held at SPMS in Lisbon on Wednesday 23 September, under the motto "Está tudo bem?" ("Is everything all right?"). The Linha Nacional de Prevenção do Suicídio (National Suicide Prevention Line) opened on 10 September 2025, World Suicide Prevention Day.
Who calls, and when
Women and young adults aged 18 to 29 were the most frequent callers, the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (National Health Service, SNS) said in a note on 24 September. It gave no percentages for either group.
SPMS said about 80 percent of calls were answered after a wait of around 50 seconds. It did not say how long the other 20 percent waited, or how many calls went unanswered.
Demand peaked in July and August. Across the day, the busiest period was between 19:00 and 21:00.
The line is staffed by mental health professionals with specialist training, works 24 hours a day on every day of the year, and is free and confidential.
"Training was the secret"
The line did not open on its first planned date. Ana Povo, the Secretary of State for Health, said on the anniversary that she held it back until clinical coordination and staff training were in place.
"Training was the secret of this project, and I do not regret having postponed the line for it," she said, according to the SNS note. She described the project as the result of "long technical and clinical preparation, led by a multidisciplinary and determined team".
Luís Goes Pinheiro, who chairs SPMS, gave the first-year totals. João Oliveira, director of the SNS 24 national telehealth centre, and José Carlos Santos, the line's clinical coordinator, presented its indicators and challenges to staff. Ana Matos Pires, of the national coordination of mental health policy, spoke on why the line was set up. Neither agency's note gives more detail from those presentations.
What the figures do not show
Neither agency said whether the line answers in languages other than Portuguese. That matters for many of the country's immigrants. Nor did they say how the calls from people at imminent risk were followed up, for example by sending the emergency services.
The profile of callers also leaves a gap. Earlier this month, SOS Voz Amiga, the country's oldest listening line, opened for 48 hours straight because the men most likely to die by suicide almost never ring. The 1411 numbers point the same way: its heaviest users are women and young adults.
Where to get help
- 1411: the SNS suicide prevention line, free, confidential, 24 hours a day.
- 112: the European emergency number, if a life is in immediate danger.
Our guide to emergency numbers in Portugal lists the other services, and our guide to mental health support in Portugal explains how to find therapy through the SNS and privately.
