Global Mental Health
There is a growing commitment to improve the mental health of populations and to develop integrated hospital and community mental health systems that have the capacity to respond to mental health service needs of populations. On 9 October 2008 the Director-General of the World Health Organization launched the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP). [10] The objectives of mhGAP are:
- To reinforce the commitment of governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to increase the allocation of financial and human resources for care of mental, neurological and substance use disorders (MNS) disorders.
- To achieve much higher coverage with key interventions in the countries with low and lower middle incomes that have a large proportion of the global burden of MNS disorders.
On 10 October 2008, in London and in Melbourne, the Movement for Global Mental Health [7] was launched. Follow the link to view The Movement for Global Mental Health Website
http://www.globalmentalhealth.org
The movement has proposed five priority actions:
1) global advocacy, 2) systems of development including specific care packages, 3) research promotion, 4) capacity building, and 5) monitoring of progress of countries in scaling up mental-health care. “The network of individuals and organizations committed to these goals will be at the heart of the movement. Through the shared values and coordinated actions that harness the enormous motivation and creativity of the diverse stakeholders for mental health, the movement will seek to achieve its goals. Ultimately, we hope that substantial progress in scaling up services for people with mental disorders will take its place alongside progress in HIV/AIDS treatment and maternal and child survival as one the great public-health successes of our times.” [11]