WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY SPOTLIGHT
World Mental Health Day 2023 is an opportunity to raise awareness about mental health as a universal human right, and about the required actions to promote and protect mental health for all. This year’s World Mental Health Day is commemorated under the theme “mental health as a universal human right”. It recognizes that all people have the right to the highest attainable standard of mental health as a fundamental human right. All people should be protected from stigma, discrimination and other mental health risks, have access to high quality care for mental health conditions and enjoy full inclusion in society.
Worldwide, almost 1 billion people are living with a mental health condition. People affected by TB have a higher risk of mental health conditions, which can negatively impact TB treatment outcomes, health-related quality of life and other health and social outcomes. In fact, mental health conditions are one of the top impairments suffered by people with TB. Stigma and discrimination associated with a TB diagnosis and the treatment course, as well as human rights-related barriers to TB care can also adversely affect mental health. Therefore, mental health care should be addressed as an important part of holistic people-centred care for people with TB and their families.
To promote high quality mental health care for all people with TB, the World Health Organization (WHO) will soon publish new guidance and an associated e-course on TB and mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
“People with TB have a higher prevalence of mental health conditions and often also face stigma because of the disease. WHO’s new guidance and associated e-course on TB, mental health conditions and substance use disorders, provides tools and strategies to improve holistic people-centred TB care,” highlighted Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme. “The new guidance not only shines a spotlight on the issue of mental health but it also outlines the actions that national TB programmes and health care workers can take to provide the best care possible for people with TB and mental health conditions.”
Dr Dévora Kestel, Director of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Use added, “On World Mental Health Day we are excited and pleased to signal that WHO will soon be issuing new guidance and an e-course on TB and mental health conditions, these new resources will further emphasize the importance of mental health as a fundamental human right for all people, including for people affected by TB.”
The new guidance is included in WHO’s Operational Handbook on Tuberculosis. Module 6: Tuberculosis and Comorbidities, and contains practical information to facilitate the identification and management of key mental health conditions affecting people with TB during TB treatment. The guidance will be available on WHO’s TB Knowledge Sharing Platform.
Alongside the new guidance, WHO is releasing an e-course on TB and mental health conditions. Designed for health-care workers, the e-course places a special spotlight on the links between TB and mental health conditions, and on essential, basic clinical interventions. The 2-hour e-course is free of charge and can be taken by the learner at their own pace. Using the latest adult learning principles, the e-course consist of a combination of videos, presentations, quizzes and case studies. A certificate can be downloaded if learners achieve a 80% score or higher in the final assessment.
The WHO guidance and e-course on TB and mental health conditions will be launched during a special online webinar which will be held on 3 November 2023, from 12.00-13.30 CET. To attend this webinar please register here: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tMqhjEnbQNaLeqH_j5A5SA