Sometimes you have to travel far and wide to meet the leaders in your field. Other times they come to you. Dr. Leslie Ramsammy is in Halifax this week speaking about health for all in resource-poor countries and meeting with local health providers.
Dr. Ramsammy is the Minister of Health of Guyana and the President of the Sixty-first World Health Assembly. In May of 2008 his address to the WHA highlighted the importance of mental health. Here’s an excerpt from his speech:
“There is no health without mental health” is a global recognition. I believe Mental health is not properly integrated into our primary health care system. What has happened since The world health report 2001?
The world health report 2001 – Mental health: new understanding, new hope brought mental health to centre stage and called upon nations to prioritize mental health as an integral component of health. The world health report 2001 recommended the following actions:
- to provide treatment in primary care and the community;
- to make psychotropic drugs available;
- to educate and involve the public, communities, families and consumers;
- to establish national policies, programs, and legislation;
- to develop human resources and link with other sectors;
- to monitor community mental health; and
- to support continued relevant research.
Historically due to stigma and discrimination those with mental illness have not received the care they needed to support their recovery to become valuable contributors to civil society. We have the knowledge we need today to provide cost-effective, evidence-informed mental health care to all those who require it without discrimination and to ensure equal access to all health care for those with mental illness. Although we have made significant strides forward we have a long way to go.
Vertical mental health services have perpetuated the segregation and stigmatization of those suffering from mental illness. Mental health can no longer be the orphan of the health care system: it must be integrated into general health services and available in the communities in which people live and receive other services. New models based on population mental health needs can be achieved through enhancing competency of health care providers.
If only every Minister of Health around the world were so committed to advancing the understanding of mental health and mental illness.
