By Sheriff Saidykhan
Momodou Gassama, of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that one in every eight person in the world has a mental health disorder.
He made these remarks on Thursday at a press briefing, held at Kanifing in collaboration with the Ministry of Health on the Mental Health draft Bill.
βWhich means one billion of the world population has a mental health disorderβ he said.
He said two per cent of the global health ministries budgets are pumped into the mental health disorders.
βAll the health Ministries, and compile all their mental health budgets together. Only two per cent of world health budgets goes to mental health disorder.
In some countries it is far less that that. Some 0.5 per cent of their budgets goes into mental healthβ he revealed.
He added that the world is not doing βenoughβ to tackle global mental health disorders.
βThe world is not doing enough to address the needs. The mental health is high, and the response are slow,β
He said people reeling with mental health disorders lack the services of treatment.
βFifty per cent of people with chronic mental health disorders, don’t have the services they required.
This is even serious in developing countries. Not all people with mental health have access to the services they requiredβ.
Protecting the mental health risk factors he said, requires concerted efforts towards tackling mental health problems. He further stated that no one is immune to mental health.
βYou can be at the highest mental wellbeing today, and two weeks or one month time, you can be at the lowest part of mental health continuum. So which means no is immune to mental health disordersβ he said.
He said alcohol substances, behavioural patterns, smoking, hard drugs, disputes and wars are all risk factors of mental health disorders.
βIt can be of behavious, alcohol, smoking, hard drugs, disputes and warsβ.
