The Scottish government has set a target of reducing the country's suicide rate by 20% by 2022.

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey announced the target alongside a new suicide prevention action plan.

Suicide prevention charity Samaritans had claimed the Scottish government was not taking the issue seriously enough.

Ms Haughey insisted Scotland has "made real progress in reducing deaths by suicide", but said there was "far more to do" to tackle the issue.

The government is setting up a national suicide prevention leadership group, headed by former Police Scotland deputy chief Rose Fitzpatrick, to be backed by a £3m innovation fund.

• Suicidal have a 'higher pain threshold'
• Read the full action plan here, external

If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionlineor you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information 0800 066 066.

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey welcomes the fact that her first debate in her new post is on suicide prevention, highlighting how suicide has touched her own life.

She says it is important to highlight that suicide is not acceptable or inevitable in Scotland.

The 20% fall in the suicide rate is welcome and the minister praises all those who fed into this.

Ms Haughey explains the suicide plan sets out a cross-government approach to prevent death by suicide and has been developed in partnership with stakeholders, partners and those effected by suicide.

The views expressed and experiences shared played a hugely important part in shaping the action plan.

Image source, Scottish government

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey will now lead a debate on the recently published Suicide Prevention Action Plan: Every Life Matters, external.

Image source, bbc

Concerns were first brought to the attention of the Holyrood's petitions committee in 2014 by campaigners who complained that complications were frequently under-reported by doctors.

The Scottish government urged all health boards to stop using the procedure until more evidence was gatheredand set up an independent review to look into safety concerns.

But the guidance was widely ignored, withBBC Scotland revealing in December 2016 that hundreds of operations had been carried out since the "suspension".

The final draft of the safety review, published in March 2017, was itself mired in controversy.

Campaigners, including Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy - who lodged the original petition with the parliament on behalf of the Scottish Mesh Survivors campaign - branded it a "whitewash".

Read more here.

SNP MSP Alex Neil seeks assurances that the enforcement action announced today will definitely see a halt to procedures, unlike the suspension he announced as health secretary four years ago.

He also urges health ministers across the UK to get together to deal with the MHRA which is "totally unfit for purpose".

Ms Freeman responds that she is satisfied that the halt will be adhered to though she will continue to consider if more can be done.

She also says that other UK health ministers have been invited to discuss these matters with her and she would be happy to include MHRA in these discussions.

• Over the past 20 years, more than 100,000 women across the UK have had transvaginal mesh implants, which are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI), often after childbirth.

• The mesh, usually made from synthetic polypropylene, is intended to repair damaged or weakened tissue.

• While the vast majority of women suffer no side-effects, others have reported chronic and debilitating pain, with some being left unable to walk.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton welcomes to announcement.

He seeks further information on the review of hernia mesh and wonders about surgery to remove mesh implants where appropriate.

Ms Freeman says today's announced does not apply to the use of mesh for other conditions as there is not enough evidence to suggest this would be appropriate.

However she adds that this will be kept under review.

On mesh removal, the health secretary is unable to answer at present but she agrees to get back to him in person.

Image source, bbc

• April 2014 - Campaigners lodge a petition at the Scottish Parliament, calling for a suspension of mesh implant surgery.
• June 2014 - Women, some of them in wheelchairs, give evidence to Holyrood's petitions committee about the debilitating consequences of their surgery.Health secretary, Alex Neill asks Scotland's health boards to suspend the use of meshwhile an independent review is carried out.
• October 2015 - New health secretary, Shona Robison, apologises to women affected and says the suspension will remain in place.
• December 2016 - Figures obtained by BBC Scotland reveal that 404 women have received mesh and tape implants since the health secretary called for the suspension in June 2014.
• March 2017 - Patient representatives Olive McIlroy and Elaine Holmes resign from the independent review group,claiming its final report has been watered down. The review says the procedure should not be used routinely for pelvic organ prolapse cases, and for incontinence, women should be given full information about the risks before making their decision.
• May 2017 - Shona Robison asks Prof Alison Britton of Glasgow Caledonian University to conduct a review of the independent review
• July 2018 - NHS England says the use of mesh implants will be "paused" until strict new conditions are metbut will remain as a treatment of last resort for some patients

Image source, bbc

Green MSP Alison Johnstone also welcomes the announcement but says the halt is overdue.

Ms Johnstone asks whether a woman who chooses to go ahead with a mesh implant will be told about today's statement and get a chance to meet with those affected by the procedure.

The minister says again the halt will only be lifted when we have absolute confidence that the high vigilance protocol have been carried out.

Ms Freeman says her position is to consider a range of evidence which comes from more than one source, and adds that for some women this procedure was the only way to help.

She does not agree that previous statements were misleading and she adds that what has been announced today takes Scotland ahead of the rest of the UK.

The review of the review is independent and she tells the chamber she does not know when it will be published.

I am not closing the door to any further issues which arise Ms Freeman says, but today we can say we have heard what the women has said and we have put in place steps to ensure women are given all possible information.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay warmly welcomes today's decision to halt the use of mesh in Scotland.

He highlights the Scottish Mesh Survivors group has been calling for this for six years, adding that if the Scottish government has listened then it would have saved many women from misery.

Mr Findlay says the MHRA is not fit for purpose.

However, he argues previous claims that the Scottish government was restricted in what it could do was "bogus" given the measures put in place today.

The independent review into mesh was a whitewash, he insists, and he asks when the review of the review will be complete.

Mr Findlay states the evidence available in 2014 was "stark and more than enough" to take the action announced today.

Image source, bbc

Ms Freeman replies this is an issue that deserves mature reflection and consideration and she welcomes Mr Carlaw's committment to do just that.

The health secretary explains the new protocol is designed to put in place further steps that restrict the use of mesh in these cases.

She points out women will be fully informed of the all the consequences of all the options and says the medical director will be the accountable officer for ensuring that every step in the high vigilance protocol has been taken.

The health secretary explains there must always be fully informed consent.

She reiterates the chief medical officer has told health boards to halt the use of mesh in the two procedures she has outlined.

Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw welcomes this "decisive step" and says he hopes Elaine Holmes and Olive Mcllroy and all the women affected can "at least give one unqualified cheer for the progress that it represents."

He pays tribute to "the women who died Eileen Baxter and Michelle McDougall, one directly, one indirectly, of this process."

The Tory MSP says there is still an opportunity for the government and parliament to apologise to the women affected by the "whole mesh scandal".

He says he will lobby the UK government on this issue and says the NHRA is "hopelessly ineffective" in dealing with mesh implants.

Image source, bbc

He asks what enforcement can be there to ensure the new protocol is rigourously applied.

"Finally cabinet secretary can I say well done".

Operations will be allowed to go ahead provided it is a woman's express wish, with clear informed consent demonstrated, Ms Freeman states.

The purpose of the high vigilance, restricted use protocol is to ensure the procedure is not used unless there is absolutely no alternative and the patient is informed, she says.

The health secretary asserts medical directors are responsible for signing off the use of mesh and no mesh can be procured by a surgeon unless under exception circumstances.

Health board directors will be responsible to ensuring the high vigilance process is used in each individual woman's case, she adds.

Ms Freeman tells the chamber that the chief medical officer has announced a prospective audit into all procedures, which will run until such a time where a UK-wide registry is developed.

NICE guidance is expected to put out a consultation on mesh on October/November, she says.

Image source, Baxter family

The Scottish government has been urged to launch an inquiry after the death of a woman was linked to controversial mesh implants.

Eileen Baxter, 75, from Loanhead, died in hospital in Edinburgh last month.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay said that he believed it was the first time mesh had been specifically cited as an underlying cause of death in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon said the government would consider a review if it received information about Mrs Baxter's case.

The use of mesh implants in NHS Scotland was suspended four years ago in all but exceptional circumstances.

Read more.

Image source, bbc

Ms Freeman explains the chief medical officer has continued to keep this under review and is listening to the women who have been affected of this.

The health secretary says: "I have today asked the chief medical officer to instruct health boards to immediately halt the use of transvaginal mesh altogether in cases of both pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, pending the implementation of a new restricted use protocol, that will ensure procedures are only carried out only in the most exceptional circumstances."

She goes on to say the halt in use will not effect other uses of mesh, but they will be continually reviewed.