mental health Global Action Programme (2002)
Mental health has become a major international public health concern and WHO has placed high profile focus on the importance of mental health. During 2001 the World Health Day (7 April 2001) was devoted to mental health and 155 countries celebrated the event. World Health Day on April 7, 2001
During World Health Assembly 2001, 135 Health Ministers participated in the Ministerial Roundtables on mental health to discuss mental health in all its dimensions. They vowed to improve the mental health of their populations. A Call for Action by Ministers of Health
The topic of World Health Report 2001 was mental health: new understanding, new hope. The report sheds new light on mental disorders and offers new hope to those suffering from mental disorders and to their families. This report provides a comprehensive review of what is known about the burden of mental disorders and the principal contributing factors. It examines the scope of prevention and the availability of, and obstacles to, treatment. It provides a critical review of service provision and planning and concludes with a set of far-reaching recommendations that can be adapted by every country according to its resources and needs.
The mental health Global Action Programme (mhGAP) was developed as a follow-up to the 2001 World Health Report and provides a strategy for closing the gap between what is urgently needed and what is currently available to help individuals and families affected by mental illnesses. This five-year programme prioritizes services for the most vulnerable population groups and focuses on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for people with six priority conditions - depression, schizophrenia, alcohol and drug dependence, dementia, epilepsy, and the risk of suicide. This programme also aims to increase the responsiveness of governments to mental health concerns, to enhance services, to reduce the burden of mental disorders, and to reduce the devastating impact of stigma and discrimination.
Moving forward
The impact of WHO's efforts is already significant. Countries are beginning to act and move forward innovatively. WHO hopes to catalyze this new energy to improve the mental health situation around the world. Through the mental health Global Action Programme (mhGAP), there is the opportunity to advance the momentum generated into intensive action so that people with mental illness, wherever they are, can access needed services and can achieve the highest level of recovery.
For more information, please refer to the list of publications. List of Publications on Mental Health