Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, and welcome to the 2024 WHO Mental Health Forum.
I am pleased to be here today with such a diverse and passionate group: government representatives, mental health experts, advocates, and especially those with lived experience of mental health, brain health, and substance use conditions.
Our work, and the challenges before us, are both personal and global.
We are all united by a common mission: to improve mental health around the world.
Mental health is one of the most neglected areas of health.
As I like to say, there is no health without mental health.
And yet many countries, at all income levels, devote few resources to providing quality mental health services.
This is often compounded by the stigma associated with mental health, brain health, and substance use conditions, which is often a barrier to care for those in need.
WHO and our partners are working hard to support countries to overcome these barriers.
Through our Special Initiative for Mental Health, we work alongside national and local governments to expand access to services in communities and integrate mental health care into primary health care.
WHO also plays a vital role in convening experts, analysing the evidence and distilling it into guidelines, norms and standards for our Member States.
In that regard, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Mental Health, Brain Health and Substance Use.
The recommendations of the STAG-MNS, as it's known, have been instrumental in shaping WHO’s work. You will hear more about it later today.
The theme of this year’s forum, "Global Mental Health in Motion: Looking Back, Looking Forward," captures the spirit of reflection and action that guides our work.
It reminds us of how far we’ve come in making mental health a global priority, and it emphasizes how much remains to be done.
This forum provides us with a unique opportunity to galvanize new ideas, forge stronger partnerships, and inspire action.
Over the next two days, you will hear from experts, share insights, and explore ways to overcome challenges.
As you know, tomorrow marks World Mental Health Day.
This year we are drawing attention to mental health at work.
In 2019, WHO estimated that 1 in 6 working age adults experienced some type of mental disorder.
Just as employers have a responsibility to protect the physical health of their workers from occupational health and safety risks, they also have a responsibility to support their mental health, yet this has been comparatively neglected.
There are many ways in which work can negatively affect mental health, including through bullying and harassment, sexual violence, inequality and discrimination, racism, heavy workloads, stress, low pay, a toxic culture and more.
At the same time, work can itself protect mental health, providing a sense of identity and purpose, and of course, income. And for people with mental health conditions, good work can promote recovery and inclusion in the community.
WHO’s Guidelines on mental health at work provide evidence-based recommendations for effectively addressing mental health at work.
Together with the International Labour Organization, we have also produced a policy brief to support implementation of the recommendations.
These recommendations are not something we are just telling the rest of the world to do. These are recommendations that we are working to implement ourselves in our own workplaces.
Thank you all once again for your commitment to improving mental health around the world, in the workplace and every place.
Because there is no health without mental health.
I wish you a successful meeting.