President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday urged the need for a comprehensive strategy to address the growing challenge of mental health issues in the country.
\nHe called for taking collective measures and adopting an integrated approach involving various stakeholders, including relevant ministries, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, NGOs, psychiatric associations, and civil society to overcome the mental health burden in Pakistan.
\nThe president expressed these views while chairing a follow-up meeting on mental health, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release. President for a comprehensive strategy to address mental health issues
\nThe meeting was attended by Chairman of the Strategic Reforms Implementation Unit Prime Minister\u2019s Office Hussain Islam and representatives of various organizations working on mental health, including the Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA), Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS), the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), Taskeen Health Initiative, Pakistani American Psychiatric Association of North America (PAPANA), and British Pakistani Psychiatrists Association (BAPPA) through video link.
\nDuring the meeting, the president highlighted that mental health was a major concern, demanding a coordinated approach from all involved parties.
\nHe said that around 24% of the country\u2019s population was facing various mental health issues and 60% of college and university students were under stress.
\nHe said that this situation needed the immediate attention of the government, healthcare professionals, civil society organizations, and the media.
\nThe president called for concise and impactful messaging to create awareness about mental health issues by drawing upon the lessons learnt from the successful campaigns on COVID-19 and breast cancer.
\nHe said that coordinated efforts were needed to overcome the social stigmas and taboos attached to mental health issues in Pakistan.
\nHe also underscored the need for increasing the number of mental health professionals, besides taking steps for the capacity building of human resources to provide quality counselling and assistance to people.
\nHe further stated that such initiatives should be supported and sustained in future by the successive governments.
\nThe president also lauded the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between an international NGO and a private media group in Pakistan for raising awareness about mental health issues.
\nThe meeting also discussed the formation of a committee under the Chairman of Strategic Reforms Implementation Unit Prime Minister\u2019s Office (PMO) to further bolster the effectiveness of the \u2018Humraaz App\u2019 geared towards mental health assistance and awareness.
\nThe necessity of adopting a collaborative care model to effectively extend services to individuals facing mental health challenges was also discussed.
\nHussain Islam provided an overview of the initiative of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, \u2018Humraaz\u2019, a mental health services platform and helpline to aid those affected by mental illnesses.
\nHe informed that the App was operational and was providing essential mental health services and counselling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday urged the need for a comprehensive strategy to address the growing challenge of mental health issues in the country. He called for taking collective measures and adopting an integrated approach involving various stakeholders, including relevant ministries, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, NGOs, psychiatric associations, and civil society to overcome the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-366631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n