Although the topic of mental health has been raised in previous years, it will receive the top invoicing at the event, which will also cover the prevention and control of other non -transferable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. NCDs remain the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. They are closely linked: Too many people overlap physical and mental conditions and require integrated approaches to care.
The extent of the challenge
“This is the first time we can report more than a billion people have a mental health,” Dr. Devora Kestel, director Ad interim of non -transferable illnesses and mental health/NMH at the World Health Organization (WHO). “Only nine percent of people with depression, the most common mental health, receive support. Only 40 percent of people with psychosis get help. This means that countries need to come up with more and better ways to develop services to ensure that this care is available and easy to access.”
Even when services are found, they are often inaccessible due to costs, distance or lack of integration with other health support. Stigma is also a significant factor that discourages those living with mental health from seeking help.
UNICEF gives women in Sierra Leone Mental Health Counseling and Psychosocial Support.
The political statement to be adopted at the meeting also aims to encourage knowledge sharing and extended funding. “Member States have decided to emphasize some issues that are common to all non-infectious diseases, but some that are very specific to mental health, such as children and youth’s mental health, suicide prevention and efforts to develop services at social level,” noted Dr. Kestel.
Clear connections between mental and physical illness
The spread of NCDs is largely driven by five main risk factors: use of tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, inadequate physical activity, unhealthy diets and air pollution. Limited access to diagnosis, treatment and care services also contributes significantly.
Risk factors between mental and physical illness overlap significantly, according to Dr. Kestel. “The promotion of lifestyle interventions that encourage physical activity or a healthy diet or cut tobacco and alcohol are valid for both types of diseases.
Now, she says, it’s time for politicians to act. “We have heard a lot about the importance of mental health over the past few years. We need commitment. We need leaders to understand that there are problems, processes, mechanisms that can be introduced to ensure that there will be access to mental health care, from promoting a healthy lifestyle to ensuring a personal -centered approach to treatment and care with a clear role for people with lively experience.”
Migrants and refugees can be exposed to various stress factors that affect their mental health and well -being.
The upcoming high-level UN meeting represents an opportunity to attach mental health and NCDs to the global agenda. The statement will not be, as Dr. Kestel himself noticed, a “magical document”, but it can set a new course, unite countries and demonstrate that accessible and fair mental health care is possible in every corner of the world.
