GENEVA: The Covid-19 crisis has impacted almost all areas of health, but few as profoundly as mental health, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the occasion of World Mental Health Day on Monday, and called on member states in South-East Asia region (SERO) to intensify action to achieve access for all to quality mental health care.
“In 2020, cases of major depressive disorder are estimated to have increased by more than 27 percent globally, and cases of anxiety disorders by more than 25 percent, adding to the 1 billion people who were already living with a mental disorder,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia (SERO)
“In many countries, this occurred alongside widespread disruptions to mental health services. Between November and December 2021, more than 33 percent of WHO Member States globally reported ongoing disruptions to mental, neurological and substance use services,” she added.
“On World Mental Health Day, WHO is calling on the Member States in the South-East Asia Region to intensify action to achieve access for all to quality mental health care, in line with the recently adopted Paro Declaration on universal access to people-centred mental health care and services,” she added.
World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10 to raise awareness of mental health issues worldwide and to mobilise efforts to support mental health.
Globally, before the Covid-19 pandemic, around 1 in 8 people lived with a mental health condition.
“Gaps in treatment were unacceptably large, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In the South-East Asia Region, an estimated 1 in 7 people lived with a mental health condition, and in countries where data are available, the treatment gap ranged from 70–95 percent,” said a statement.
She said to close remaining gaps and to accelerate pre-pandemic progress, in September 2022, at the Seventy-fifth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, countries of the Region committed to taking bold, decisive action, unanimously adopting the Paro Declaration on universal access to people-centred mental health care and services.
The Paro Declaration aims to ensure everyone in the Region can access quality mental health care close to where they live without financial hardship.
It emphasises the need to reorient and integrate mental health services into primary health care (PHC), complementing the new Regional Strategy for PHC, launched in December 2021.
The Declaration recognises that mental health is a crucial determinant of social and economic development, an integral part of general health and well-being and that access to care is a fundamental human right.
It aims to help all countries of the Region build on and accelerate longstanding efforts to implement equitable mental health policies, laws, programmes and services in line with the Region’s Flagship Priorities on preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases, strengthening emergency risk management and achieving universal health coverage.
The WHO SERO region head said in the months and years ahead; the member-states has several priorities.
The first, is to reorient mental health services to strengthen PHC capacity, focusing on expanding the specialised and non-specialized mental health workforce. Second, establishing evidence-based and rights-oriented community mental health networks and increasing collaboration with civil society and affected populations.
Third, strengthening national and subnational programmes to address suicide and self-harm, as well as drug and alcohol use, combatting mental health-related stigma and discrimination, and protecting and promoting human rights.
“Inaction is not an option. Evidence shows that investing just US$ 1 per capita annually for priority mental health conditions could reduce years lived with disability by close to 5000 per million per year,” she added.
Increased investments and allocations towards mental health will, therefore, reduce not only overall treatment costs but also increase productivity and employment.
“There is no health without mental health. Amid the ongoing Covid-19 response and recovery, together we must deepen commitment, reshape environments, and strengthen care to transform mental health for a better life and future for all,” she added.