You can watch the opening ceremony LIVE on 4 November at 09:30 CET in English
Μπορείτε να παρακολουθήσετε την τελετή έναρξης LIVE στις 4 Νοεμβρίου στις 09:30 CET
The WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Athens will host a 3-day series of events to promote awareness of mental health, including among children and adolescents, and to address stigma and discrimination around mental health conditions.
The special event, Mental Health Week, is organized in partnership with the Greek Ministry of Health. It will bring together policy-makers, experts, advocates and people living with mental health conditions to join hands in building a world where high-quality mental health services are a reality for everyone – regardless of age, income or background.
Young people will also be active participants in the events, as WHO/Europe puts a special emphasis on the need for young people to play a central role in decision-making that affects their health. Youth participation is particularly important in shaping mental health systems, which – in addition to being under-resourced and difficult to navigate – often fail to meet the unique needs and preferences of children, adolescents and young people.
Continuing the work of the pan-European Mental Health Coalition
The first day of the event series, 3 November, will bring together members and supporters of the pan-European Mental Health Coalition to share good practices in improving mental health and well-being for children and adolescents, to review progress to date, and to refine priority actions for the future. This will include an interactive workshop to gather inputs from young people on developing a quality-of-care framework for child and adolescent mental health in Europe.
The Coalition, launched in September 2021, is a network of individuals and organizations committed to ensuring that every person in the European Region has access to the resources needed for good mental health. It does so by harnessing the collective wisdom, expertise, and know-how of its more than 200 members, guided by the WHO European Framework for Action on Mental Health 2021–2025.
Greece vocal and active in mental health
The following 2 days of Mental Health Week, 4–5 November, will focus on the work done by Greece in collaboration with the WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety. Additionally, a variety of events aimed at breaking down stigma and discrimination around mental health will bring together people living with mental health conditions, and families and organizations working to support them.
These events, some of which will focus on young people, include:
- a high-level meeting that will bring together senior government officials and civil society actors, with a focus on the mental health of children and adolescents;
- an Agora (“marketplace”), where local organizations that support the social inclusion of people living with severe mental health conditions will present local products and showcase artwork made by users of their services;
- Evexia (“well-being”), a series of sports, arts and culture, and community-building events in English and Greek – ranging from horse riding and sailing to creative writing and expressive dance – aiming to raise awareness of mental health and well-being, the importance of social integration and reintegration of people with mental health conditions, and the need for the elimination of stigma related to mental illness;
- a special concert featuring local musicians aimed at addressing the stigma and discrimination around mental health conditions.
In line with the WHO European Framework for Action on Mental Health, the Government of Greece has made mental health – and especially the mental health of children and adolescents – a core priority of national public health strategy. Greece will present key aspects of its National Mental Health Plan on 4 November.