WHO calls for scaling up investments in mental healthcare

vast social and ecomic impact of COVID-19 highlights critical need for all countries in South-East Asia region to scale up investments for sustained and quality mental health care, WHO said on Saturday on occasion of World Mental Health Day.

Four out of every five people in region who require mental health services are unable to access m. region also has lowest per capita number of mental health workers, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia said.

Given immense social and ecomic impact of coronavirus, countries and partners must act with ‘speed and scale’ to secure and apply necessary funds, as underscored by me of this year's World Mental Health Day campaign - Move for Mental Health: Let's Invest, she said.

Globally, nearly one in 10 people have mental health condition. Depression is a leing cause of disability.

An estimated 3 million people die every year from harmful use of alcohol. A suicide occurs every 40 seconds. Most mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, official ted.

And yet more than a quarter of world's population lives in a country where re is less than one psychiatrist for every 1,00,000 people.

" vast social and ecomic impact of COVID-19 highlights critical need for all countries in region to invest in quality mental health care, which must be part of an overall increase in health spending," Singh said.

Across region, services for mental health care, including access to psychiatric medicines, have in recent months experienced significant disruptions, which WHO has been supporting member states to overcome through invative service delivery models such as telemedicine and doorstep deliveries, she said.

World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to strengn capacity of health workers to detect, man and treat mental health issues through virtual trainings and webinars, and will continue to facilitate identification of best practices that can be apted and rolled out to scale, especially at community level.

region's recently opted Ministerial Declaration for a Collective COVID-19 Response highlights ongoing need for countries to maintain essential health services.

To prevent burut, minimise stress and enhance mental well-being of health workers, facility ministrators should appropriately balance working hours and rotate workers from higher-stress to lower-stress functions. Personal protective equipment must be reily accessible to all, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia said.

ministrators must ensure that financial resources are available to call up ditional staff and pay overtime and sick leave, she said.

"Leers across sectors must continue to apply a zero-tolerance approach to social stigma, verbal aggression and violence directed at health workers, and must continue to celebrate and support health workforce," Singh ted.

WHO will continue to provide its full support to countries and partners in region to strengn provision of need-specific, culturally sensitive mental health care and treatments throughout COVID-19 response and into recovery and beyond, in line with its strategic preparedness and response plan, Region's Flagship Priorities, WHO's “triple billion” targets and Sustainable Development Goal 3, official ded.