ISLAMABAD: World Mental Health Day, which is supported by the UN, is being marked in Pakistan like all over the globe on Sunday 10th of October.
Secretary-General’s message on World Mental Health Day 2021: “Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a terrible toll on people’s mental health. Millions of people face grief over lost family members and friends. Many more are anxious over unemployment and fearful of the future. Older people may experience isolation and loneliness, while children and adolescents may feel alienated and distressed.
“Without determined action, the mental health impact may last far longer than the pandemic itself. We must act to redress the glaring inequalities exposed by the pandemic – including the inequality in access to mental health services. In high-income countries, over 75 percent of people with depression report that they do not receive adequate care. And in low- and middle-income countries, over 75 percent of people with mental health conditions receive no treatment at all.
“This is the direct consequence of chronic under-investment, as governments spend an average of just over 2 percent of their health budgets on mental health. This is unacceptable. At long last, we are beginning to see recognition that there can be no health without mental health. Member States have endorsed the World Health Organization’s updated Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan.
“The United Nations family, together with partners across the global mental health community, are introducing new guidelines and developing new tools to improve mental health. These are positive steps – but we have a long way to go. On World Mental Health Day and every day, let us commit to work together with urgency and purpose to ensure quality mental health care for all people, everywhere.”
World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that the mysterious respiratory disease caused by Coronavirus had a profound impact on people’s mental health: “Some groups, including health and other frontline workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions, have been particularly affected. And services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders have been significantly disrupted”, WHO maintained.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from around the world recognized the necessity of speeding-up quality mental health services at all levels: “During this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, we will showcase the efforts made in some of these countries and encourage you to highlight positive stories as part of your own activities, as an inspiration to others”, held WHO.
The UN’s body further stated that the body would also provide new materials, in easy-to-read formats, of how to take care of your own mental health and provide support to others too: “We hope you will find them useful. The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide”.
PS: World Mental Health Day is annually held on 10th of October in order to focus on the theme facilitating raising of awareness. Discussions on illnesses, as well as investments in prevention and treatment services are held. Modus operandi of containing issues such as depression, including among young people, are also pondered over.
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