WHO Calls For More Investments In Mental Health To Tackle Impact Of Pandemic

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday called for more investments in mental health owing to the effect of covid19 pandemic on people’s wellbeing.

The Director-General, WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, made this call as the United Nations (UN) Health Agency commences its World Mental Health Day campaign this September ahead of the annual celebration holding in October.

Ghebreyesus in a report said there was an upsurge in mental health disorders globally and investing in mental health has become imperative due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are already seeing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s mental well-being, and this is just the beginning.

“Unless we make serious commitments to scale up investment in mental health right now, the health, social and economic consequences will be far-reaching,” WHO said.

He noted that mental health is one of the most neglected areas of public health, adding that about 1 billion people are living with a mental disorder, 3 million people die every year from the harmful use of alcohol and one person dies every 40 seconds by suicide.

He lamented the inability of the greater population of the world to access quality mental health services, adding that in low- and middle-income countries, more than 75 per cent of people with mental, neurological and substance disorders receive no treatment for their condition at all.

“This is despite the fact that for every US$ 1 invested in scaled-up treatment for common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, there is a return of US$ 5 in improved health and productivity”, he said.

Hence, in celebrating this year’s World Mental Health Day, WHO revealed its partnerships with the United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health to enhance a massive scale-up in investment in mental health.

“To encourage public action around the world, a World Mental Health Day campaign, Move for mental health: let’s invest will kick off in September”, WHO said.

Ghebreyesus said because of the scale of the problem, the vast majority of mental health needs remained unaddressed, and such is hampered by chronic under-investment in mental health promotion, prevention and care for many years before the pandemic.