mental

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with his special guest Raquelina Langa, a young student from Mozambique.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

Celebrating Youth Day, UN stresses importance of good mental health

12 August 2014
Each year 20 per cent of the world's young people experience a mental health condition, the United Nations reported in a new publication launched to coincide with International Youth Day which this year shines a spotlight on the importance of mental health.
Patients at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India.
WHO/P. Virot

On World Mental Health Day, Ban calls depression under-appreciated global health crisis

10 October 2012
Terming depression, which afflicts 350 million people worldwide, an “under-appreciated global health crisis,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for an international effort to increase access to a wide variety of effective and affordable treatments and remove the social stigma attached to the illness.

Ban Ki-moon calls for scaling up resources for mental health services

10 October 2007
More than 60 per cent of people globally who suffer from mental disorders are not receiving treatment, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging an increase in resources devoted to mental health care.

New UN-backed guidelines issued to tackle mental health problems in conflicts, disasters

14 September 2007
United Nations and other international humanitarian agencies have agreed on a new set of guidelines to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of survivors in response to emergencies such as conflicts or disasters, identifying useful practices and flagging potentially harmful ones.

UN health agency urges more investments, services for mental health disorders

4 September 2007
With up to half of all people with severe mental disorders worldwide and a vast majority of mild or moderate cases not receiving any treatment, the United Nations health agency today appealed to countries to increase their investment and support for necessary services.

Millions suffering from mental illness need better care, says UN health agency

1 June 2007
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today called on countries to provide a network of community health services to alleviate the hardships faced by the nearly 54 million people around the world suffering from mental disorders as well as those caring for them.

On World Mental Health Day, UN calls for greater efforts to tackle suicide

10 October 2006
With at least 870,000 people killing themselves each year and 450 million others around the world affected by mental, neurological or behavioural problems at any given time, the United Nations today marked World Mental Health Day with calls for greater attention to be afforded to the causes and treatment of suicide.

UN health agency calls for end to abuse of people with mental disorders

7 December 2005
Alarmed that many of the 450 million people with mental disorders around the world are still stigmatized, abused and locked up under inhuman conditions, the World Health Organization (WHO) is dedicating International Human Rights Day, 10 December, to ending these practices.

UN warns that resources to tackle mental health problems are ‘grossly insufficient’

10 October 2005
Global resources for people suffering from mental and neurological disorders are grossly insufficient to address the growing burden of mental health needs, according to a new report by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) released today.
Lee Jong-wook

UN health agency puts out guidebook to establishing legal rights for mentally ill

20 June 2005
As part of an ongoing effort to encourage legal protection for the more than 450 million people in the world with mental, neurological or behavioural disorders, the United Nations health agency today announced the publication of a book to guide countries and advocates in creating effective human rights laws for their benefit.