DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANTS AND COLLEAGUES;
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to Manila for this Consultation on Implementing the Mental Health Action Plan (2013-2020) in the Western Pacific Region.
Three years ago, mental health was classified as a top priority along with NCDs by health ministers in the Pacific.
At the time, I was worried that we at WHO were not doing our job well enough to address countries' needs.
Of course, I understand as well that this could be interpreted as health ministers' recognition of the significance of mental health problems and their sincere interest in improving the mental well being of people in the Region.
While we are celebrating our progress in many areas over the past several decades, mental health at the population level has become a source of increased concern.
There is not much cause for pride.
In fact, I have to say, overall mental health is getting worse in terms of prevalence of mental disorders and behavioural problems.
There are more suicides and increased in suffering associated with self-harm and attempted suicide.
Meanwhile, treatment gaps for people with mental disorders continue to grow.
All of you are familiar with the statistics showing the alarming magnitude of mental health problems:
(a) More than 100 million people suffer from mental disorders in the Western Pacific Region.
(b) Depressive disorders alone are responsible for 5.73% of the overall disease burden in the Region.
(c) Suicide is among the top 10 causes of death in some countries and areas. In 2012, nearly 200 000 suicides were reported in the Region.
Many factors threaten the overall psychological well-being of populations.
They include dramatic social change, rapid ageing, increasing socioeconomic inequity and more frequent natural disasters, to name a few.
People with mental disorders do not benefit equally from improvements in health outcomes, advances in science and technology, or overall socioeconomic development.
Investment in mental health does not match the magnitude of the problem.
And when countries do invest, too often it's not in the right way.
Indeed, mental health issues have been neglected and ignored for too long. It is now time to accelerate and strengthen our efforts.
The importance of mental health for our Region explains its inclusion as a major topic in the forthcoming Regional Committee meeting. A special panel session will also be organized as part of this meeting.
In May 2013, the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly adopted the Mental Health Action Plan 2013 2020.
Health ministers from 194 Member States, WHO, national and international partners committed to promote mental well-being, prevent mental disorders, provide care, enhance recovery, promote human rights and reduce the mortality, morbidity and disability for people with mental disorders.
We must translate the global action plan into tangible changes both in individual Member States and for the Region, as a whole.
The task in front of us for the next two and half days is to develop a road map for this change to happen.
The draft document, Implementing the Mental Health Action Plan (2013-2020) in the Western Pacific Region, provides a starting point for your deliberations and discussions.
I am confident that by the end of this meeting you will have reached a consensus on where we are, where to go, what to do, with whom we should work, and how to overcome the implementation bottlenecks.
It is not an easy job, but we have to take on the challenge without further delay.
Mental disorders are treatable. Promotion of mental health works.
Negative impacts of the adverse social and individual events are preventable and reversible in many cases.
We in the Regional Office will do everything we can to support you. I look forward to learning the outcome of your discussions, including how we can best support you at the country level.
I also hope that you can support each other and work together to achieve the goals and objectives of the mental health action plan and those you agreed on in the coming days.
I wish you a very successful meeting and hope you enjoy your time in Manila.
Thank you.