Mental Health Matters: What are the policy priorities for the WHO?

EVENT

Mental Health Matters: What are the policy priorities for the WHO?

Date: Tuesday 28 May 2024
Time: 3:00pm (for 3:30pm start) – 5:00pm CEST
Location: Geneva Press Club, Geneva, Switzerland

Across the world, we know that around 1 in 8 people live with a mental health condition. Acute mental health conditions – such as major depressive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia – impact millions of people worldwide. As of 2019, WHO statistics suggest over 280 million people were living with depression (around 3% of the global population). Schizophrenia impacts 24 million people or 1 in 300 people worldwide, while PTSD is predominant in conflict-affected settings.

Resolving the challenges associated with acute mental health conditions is crucial to ensure all people live longer and happier lives. As part of our Mental health matters programme, ILC is undertaking a global project that aims to generate a debate among key policy and health stakeholders on how we can forge stronger policies to address and reduce the impact of acute mental health conditions across our lives.

During this roundtable discussion, we discussed:

  • The social and economic costs and implications of acute mental health conditions for individuals, their support network and the wider economy.
  • The current services and care provisions for those with acute mental health conditions and how to best democratise access – particularly as needs change throughout our lives.
  • The barriers and stigma surrounding mental health and the differences across generations and the life course.

Speakers for this event included:

  • Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe
  • Prof Tsuyoshi Akiyama, President, World Federation of Mental Health
  • Dr Meenakshi Jhala, Academic Physician and Honorary Clinical Researcher, Imperial College London
  • Dr Daragh Connolly, FIP Chair Board of Pharmaceutical Practice, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
  • Tiago Horta Reis da Silva, Lecturer in Nursing Education AEP, King’s College London

ILC’s Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index has highlighted that across 121 countries, there is an average happiness score of just 5.6 out of 10. This figure, taken from annual Gallup World Poll data, suggests the average person is “struggling” in terms of their wellbeing. While happiness is not a clear measurement of someone’s mental health, this data implies that more needs to be done to support people’s overall health and wellbeing.

We used this roundtable to explore the impact that acute mental health conditions are having at a global level and the care which people currently receive.

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