A conference scheduled for next week in Washington on suicide among U.S. military personnel and veterans has taken on new importance in light of reports showing active duty suicides to date are outpacing last year’s numbers.

The annual meeting, scheduled for June 20-23, will bring top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, VA Undersecretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel and others together to discuss the topic.

“The goal of the conference is to provide basic information, research findings and share best practices in the realm of suicide prevention, different interventions, post-ventions and surveillance activities,” said Jackie Garrick, head of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office.

The Associated Press reported 154 suicides among active duty personnel as of June 3, nearly one a day for the year and 24 more than occurred between Jan. 1 to June 3, 2011.Click here to read more