The World Health Organization European Region is today committing to ensuring good mental health is a human right for all in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior officials say everyone has been affected – not just by being infected or worrying about infection, but also the stress brought about by socioeconomic inequalities and the impacts of quarantine, lockdown and school and work closures.
People with mental health conditions are disproportionately likely to contract COVID-19 infection, but, they say, the pandemic and its effects have also exacerbated their mental health conditions.
Dr Hans Kluge, regional director of WHO Europe, said: “People in the European region are quite literally breaking down under the strain of COVID-19 and its consequences. The pandemic has shaken the world. More than 4 million lives lost globally, livelihoods ruined, families and communities forced apart, businesses bankrupted, and people deprived of opportunities.
“These consequences of the pandemic have exacted an enormous toll on the mental health and well-being of people in the European region.
“Yet the pandemic, which has been devastating in so many ways, provides an opportunity for countries to re-think and re-form their mental health services. It is an opportunity no country can afford to waste if we are to build back better and stronger.
“Mental health and wellbeing should be seen as fundamental human rights. Improving public mental health services is a win-win for everyone.
“It won’t just mitigate the mental health impacts of COVID-19, but support the sustainable improvement of overall mental health, result in economic savings which thereby also promotes economic recovery and support the achievement of wide-ranging policy objectives including achieving universal health coverage by 2030.”
A technical advisory group (TAG) was established in February 2021 to provide advice and guidance to member states of the WHO European Region and other interested parties on the key mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to suggest critical actions to be taken by national authorities in response.
The TAG has produced a series of recommendations for member states, which includes providing occupational and/or financial support to those unable to work and supporting psychological support initiatives in the workplace.
It also recommends proving more community support for adolescents and young adults, increasing mental health support in schools and universities and providing educational support for lost learning.
For mental health services, TAG recommends that these are strengthened as an integral component of the COVID-19 response and are legally, operationally and financially safeguarded.
TAG also says frontline health and care workers should have safe, fair and supportive working conditions, including through the provision of appropriate protective equipment, revised pay and conditions.
Margaritis Schinas, European Commission vice president or Promoting our European Way of Life, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already existing huge mental health challenge that is increasingly getting more complex and diversified.
“There is no excuse for delays and complacency in our answers to the immediate and longer-term consequences of this health, social and economic crisis. Our response will be holistic and above all anthropocentric.
“Together with WHO we are joining forces to build a solid Mental Health Coalition in order to address and mitigate the mental health impact of the pandemic.”
Leave a Reply