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 You may remember that the World Federation for Mental
Health (WFMH) “Great Push” programme, in alliance with the
Movement for Global Mental Health, received the advice that if we
wanted the support of health ministers to promote mental health
internationally, we would first need to demonstrate the strength of
support from the international mental health community itself.
Support of up to 500 organisations
As a consequence the “Great Push” gathered the support of up to
500 organisations and many individuals and reported this to
meetings which WFMH held in New York attended by five ministers of
health before the UN Special Session on Non-Communicable Diseases
(2011) at which some of those countries spoke out for mental health
at the Assembly and later requested the Secretary General of the UN
for a mental health “Action Plan”.
After this exciting development WFMH was able to report to the
World Health Assembly in May 2012 that it would survey the
organisations on what they would want to see in the WHO Action
Plan, and then prepare a People’s Charter for Mental Health.
What the people want
WFMH “Great Push” completed the first round of
the survey which was sent to WHO for consideration during the
preparation of the Action Plan. WFMH has also formally commented on
the draft “Plan”.
We are now preparing the “People’s Charter for
Mental Health” in which the survey results will form the major
part, as a record of “what the people want”. However, we would like
to include a section on “what more could be done by international
organisations and agencies to promote mental health”. This is where
we would welcome your help. We need to keep up the pressure while
deciding the next move.
Keep up the pressure
Below you will see a list of international
organisations and agencies. Would you look through them and check
whether there are any others which we should have included, if so
please list them? Then we would greatly value your views on what
more these organisations should do, especially if there are precise
steps which you believe that they should take to further mental
health. We do not expect you to comment on them all! We are not
intending to attribute statements to authors, but to list all those
who help us in the “credits” at the end of the Charter. We will
need to edit and condense the various replies under each
heading.
This is an opportunity to try to put pressure
on these agencies. There has been talk of our pressing forward
to request a UN General Assembly Special Session on Mental Health
and we would welcome your views on this also.
We are pressed for time as we
would like to have the Charter finished for the January meeting of
the WHO Executive Board at which the WHO Action Plan will be
considered, presumably before it is passed to the World Health
Assembly in May. WFMH will be able to address both meetings drawing
attention to the views of Civil Society. These are exciting
developments that many of us did not think we would see in our
lifetime. Can you let us have your reply by 31 October 2012. Please
email: jrmcop@btinternet.com
Could the following do more?
a) United
Nations
b) World
Health Organisation
c) Pan
American Health Organisation
d) World
Bank
e) Central
Government- all departments not just those health designated
f) Local
Government - all departments not just those health designated
g) European
Union
h) African
Union
i)
The Commonwealth
j)
Donor countries
k) Donor
organisations, international, national and independent grant making
trusts
l)
Research establishments
m)
Corporations/businesses (employers)
n) Trade
unions
o)
Humanitarian organisations
p) Mental
health associations
q)
Consumer/user organisations
r) World
Federation for Mental Health
s) World
Psychiatric Association
t)
Universities and educational establishments,
a. Student
health,
b.
Education of Drs, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists
and psychologists.
u) Health
and Social Care Training establishments other than universities
v) Other
Qualification Authorities (including management and business
courses, occupational health and physiotherapy.
w) Primary and
secondary schools
x) The
Media
Is it your opinion that we should campaign for
the United Nations General Assembly Special Session for Mental
Health? Yes / No
If ‘no’, could you give a reason?
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