Thursday, October 10th, 2024, Geneva
THERE IS NO HEALTH WITHOUT MENTAL HEALTH
Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
Permanent Representative of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana to the United Nations Office and Other International Organisations in Geneva
As we observe World Mental Health Day around the world, I would like to remind the global community that join in reminding all, major deficits in Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use represent major health burdens and contribute considerably to poverty.
Increasing numbers of people are today experiencing unbearable mental stress because of more global conflicts and more and greater intensity- natural disasters.
Even as we observe World Mental Health Day, several states in the US are being pummeled by Hurricane Milton, leaving a trail of death and destruction. This comes at a time when these very areas have not yet recovered from the onslaught of Hurricane Helene. Just recently, our Caribbean sisters and brothers endured the assault of Hurricane Beryl, that left a trail of death, injuries, and destruction in several CARICOM countries. Recently too, our sisters and brothers in various countries in Asia, like Nepal and India reeled from the death and destruction caused by monsoon floods.
As we observe Global Mental Health Day 2024, millions around the world are suffering excruciating mental agony from conflicts. These are different dimensions of conflict-based mental agony.
There is the misery of mental stress experienced by victims- Those persons, including women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, who live in environments where bombs and missiles fall like rain, who witness their loved ones dismembered by bullets and bombs who are surrounded every minute by death and blood, living with unending mental agony. Our world has proven unwilling and incapable of stopping this brutality.
There is also the mental stress experienced by people who helplessly watch from afar. It is not easy to watch the brutal result of war and destruction of headless babies, of children running with their dead infant siblings prominently displayed on TV screens around the world.
The incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has simply ballooned in the last several years due to unprecedented numbers of conflict situations and increasing natural disasters.
As a world, we can do better. World Mental Health Day 2024 reminds us that mental health insecurity is a global crisis.
- One in four persons are afflicted with mental illness at some point in their lives, more women than men.
- More than 70% of people who suffer from acute or chronic mental illness receive no treatment or help. In developed countries, only about 33% receive treatment; in developing countries, less than 25%.
- People with mental health issues are more susceptible to facing other health challenges, including dangerous cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. People with depression have a 40% higher risk of developing these conditions, while people with serious mental illness are twice as likely.
- Depression affects the lives of more than 280 million people, with 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men affected.
- 22% of persons who experience a conflict will develop a mental disorder.
- One in 7 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 suffer from a mental health disorder.
- A debilitating social stigma still is a barrier to addressing mental health.
- The global economy loses about $1 trillion annually.
I am hopeful that the UNGA High-Level Meeting in September 2025 will harness the global experience, talent, willingness, and financial capacity to do something far more meaningful to tackle mental health.
I urge that while we put together more effective responses for mental health that Brain Health also receives more attention. The growing problem of neurodiversity (autism, ADHD, etc.) requires more attention.
The world is facing a genuine pandemic when it comes to substance use. Outside of the associated social problems, such as crime, the trail of destroyed lives is a genuine pandemic. For most developing countries, there is little to no capacity to respond.
A concerted global effort is needed to build human resource capacity in each country to respond effectively.
Guyana’s Geneva Mission reminds the world that, in the early stages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the world endorsed a task-shifting strategy in building a human resource capacity to respond to HIV and AIDS. This same strategy might be of benefit in our response to Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use.
I am proud of the increasing investment that Guyana is making to improve our national mental health response. Tangible results have already been seen, such as the reduced number of suicide deaths.
Finally, the 2024 theme is Mental Health at the Workplace. We must all ensure that we provide a supportive environment to help the mental well-being of all persons at the workplace.