New Delhi (NVI): The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of millions of people worldwide, according to World Health Organization (WHO) Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“For many people, the lack of social interaction caused by the pandemic has had a profound effect on their mental health,” Tedros said in a media briefing.
He stressed that people in long-term facilities such as care homes and psychiatric institutions are at an increased risk of infection.
The WHO chief also added that mental health professionals have themselves been infected with the virus, and some mental health facilities have been closed to be converted into treatment facilities for people with COVID-19.
Tedros recollected that mental health was already a most neglected public health issue globally before the pandemic, with close to one billion people living with a mental disorder.
According to WHO, at least 1 billion people are living with a mental disorder, due to which 3 million people die every year from the harmful use of alcohol and one person dies every 40 seconds by committing suicide.
Yet relatively fewer people have access to quality mental health services, he said adding that, in low- and middle-income countries, more than 75 per cent of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders receive no treatment for their condition at all.
Earlier in July, Tedros had said that the COVID-19 crisis is getting worse, adding that in most of the world, the virus is not under control.
“In most of the world, the virus is not under control. It is getting worse. The virus has upended health systems in some of the wealthiest nations, while some countries that have mounted a successful response have been of modest means,” the WHO chief said.
Tedros further announced that for this year’s World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10, the WHO, together with its partner organizations, United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health, would call for a massive scale-up in investments in mental health.
-RJV
