Momodou Gassama: 1 in every 8 person has a mental health disorder

 

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. 

“Which means one billion of the world population  has a mental health disorder” he said.

He said two per cent of the global health ministries budgets are pumped into the mental health disorders. 

“All 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 health” he revealed. 

He added that the world is not doing ‘enough’ to tackle global mental health disorders. 

“The world is not doing enough to address the needs. The mental health is high, and the response are slow,”

He said people reeling with mental health disorders lack the services of treatment. 

“Fifty 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 required”.

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. 

“You 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 disorders” he said. 

He said alcohol substances, behavioural patterns,  smoking, hard drugs, disputes and wars are all risk factors of mental health disorders. 

“It can be of behavious, alcohol, smoking, hard drugs, disputes and wars”.