Commissioner of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus, is joining local stakeholders and the global community in observance of World Mental Health Day, Friday, October 10.
The theme is "Making Mental Health a Global Priority” Scaling up Services through Citizens’ Advocacy and Action."
More than 75 per cent of people suffering from mental disorders in the developing world receive no treatment or care. One can measure the costs to individuals, families, societies, and economies, and the costs of mental disorders, which tend to have an early onset and are chronically disabling, are enormous.
Taking action makes good economic sense. These disorders interfere, in substantial ways, with the ability of children to learn and the ability of adults to function in families, at work, and in society at large.
Care for these highly prevalent, persistent and debilitating disorders is not a charity, but a moral and ethical duty.
Commissioner Buncamper is encouraging the community to take part in any activities that are taking place to spread the word about mental illness and mental health.
"I urge the nation to consider mental wellness as a significant part of their general health care and to begin to actively informing themselves of what mental health is all about.
"We have to understand as a nation and recognize that this issue of mental health and wellness affects us all. We all need to know how to prevent mental health disorders and if persons or their families are affected, we need to provide them with support.
"Much has been achieved within the past 18 months on the island where it concerns manpower as well as structural resources such as facilities for our mental health patients. I am committed as Commissioner of Public Health, and I can also say that the Island Government is also committed in doing what is necessary to provide the necessary mental health services that our nation requires.
"On this occasion of World Mental Health Day, I call on our community to educate themselves about mental health and mental illness, and to see in what way they could assist our Mental Health Foundation," Commissioner of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus told the Government Information Service (GIS).