Africa-Press – Kenya. The World Health Organization has urged countries to put in place measures to ensure there is access to the highest attainable standard of mental health.
WHO says mental health must be treated as a basic human right for all.
“Everyone, whoever and wherever they are, has a right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. This includes the right to be protected from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable, and good quality care, and the right to liberty, independence and inclusion in the community,” the health organisation says.
WHO says there has been a 13 per cent rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorders in the last decade.
It estimates that 20 per cent of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental health condition, with suicide the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.
WHO made this observation as the global community marked World Mental Health Day 2023 themed ‘Mental health is a universal human right’.
A task force on Mental Health of 2020 pointed out that mental illness such as depression and suicide, substance use disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other psychoses accounts for 13 per cent of the entire disease burden in Kenya.
The Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Investment Case 2021 puts the burden of mental health conditions at Sh62.2 billion annually (0.6 of the GDP) due to loss of productivity capacities.
The report further reveals that the investment required for selected clinical packages and population-based preventive interventions over a 10-year period is Sh81.7 billion.
WHO says the highest attainable standard of mental health includes the right to be protected from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable, and good quality care, and the right to liberty, independence and inclusion in the community.
It says good mental health is vital to the overall health and well-being.
WHO adds that one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions, which can impact their physical health, their well-being, how they connect with others, and their livelihoods.
Mental health conditions are also affecting an increasing number of adolescents and young people, it says.
WHO says having a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their human rights or to exclude them from decisions about their own health.
The global agency says people with mental health conditions continue to experience a wide range of human rights violations.
“Many are excluded from community life and discriminated against, while many more cannot access the mental healthcare they need or can only access care that violates their human rights,” WHO says, adding that it will continue to work with its partners to ensure mental health is valued, promoted and protected.
To support countries reform legislation in a bid to end human rights abuses and increase access to quality mental healthcare, WHO and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights have jointly launched a new guidance titled “Mental health, human rights and legislation: guidance and practice”.
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus says mental health is an integral and essential component of the right to health.
“This new guidance will support countries to make the changes needed to provide quality mental healthcare that assists a person’s recovery and respects their dignity, empowering people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities to lead full and healthy lives in their communities.”
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairperson Roseline Odede says the universality of human rights includes users of mental health services and that having a mental health condition should never be a reason for deprivation of a person’s human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“Will and preferences of service users on decisions about their own health must be respected,” she says.
Odede says the detention of persons with mental illness should not be at pleasure of the President.
The chairperson says there is need to have mental health facilities that create a conducive physical and social environment and end inhumane and degrading practices such as involuntary detention and treatment, coercion, violence and abuse of service users.
Odede also calls for an end to detention or shackling of persons with mental healthcare needs, including by families, health institutions or even faith-based organisations.
She urges the national and county governments to increase mental health budget and financing to realise the return on investment envisaged in the Mental Health Investment Case, 2021.
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