World Mental Health Day 2021: Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality!

Overview

The World Mental Health Day is observed on 10th October each year to raise awareness of mental health around the world and mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

World Mental Health Day is about more than advocacy. It also provides an opportunity to empower people to look after their own mental health and provide support to others.

Objective

The overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

World Mental Health Day 2021

On World Mental Health Day 2021, it will have been more than 18 months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In some countries, life is returning to some semblance of normality; in others, rates of transmission and hospital admissions remain high, disrupting the lives of families and communities. During the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from around the world recognized the need to scale up quality mental health services at all levels and endorsed WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030, including the Plan’s updated implementation options and indicators for measuring progress.

Campaign slogan

Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality.

Facts

• Mental health conditions are increasing worldwide.
• Mental health conditions now cause 1 in 5 years lived with disability.
• Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental health condition, with suicide the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.
• Approximately one in five people in post-conflict settings have a mental health condition.
• Mental health conditions can have a substantial effect on all areas of life, such as school or work performance, relationships with family and friends and ability to participate in the community.
• Two of the most common mental health conditions, depression and anxiety, cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year.
• Despite these figures, the global median of government health expenditure that goes to mental health is less than 2%. 

Source of Info: WHO

Recommended readings

• Mental Health Policy, Nepal
• Standard Treatment Protocol for mental health services into the Primary Health Care System
• The WHO and Angry Birds Friends team up for World Mental Health Day
• Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013 – 2030
• National Mental Health Strategy & Action Plan 2077
• Mental Health for All! Greater Investment–Greater Access.
• National Mental Health Survey, Nepal-2020 Fact Sheet
• Mental health status among health workers in Nepal during COVID-19 pandemic (Policy brief)
• COVID19 & Mental Health: Effects and tips to keep our mind healthy!
• Mental Health and Coronavirus disease (COVID19)
• Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health
• Mental Health for All! Greater Investment–Greater Access.
• National Mental Health Survey, Nepal-2020 Fact Sheet
• Mental health status among health workers in Nepal during COVID-19 pandemic (Policy brief)
• Mental Health and Coronavirus disease (COVID19)
• Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health
• Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak
• Recommendation of International Mental Health Conference Nepal (IMHCN) 2018
• Informing the World: How to Change Public Attitudes to Mental Health