Sarah Kline delivers statements to the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health

Statement one

Thank you. Today I am speaking on behalf of my organisation, and the 8,000 mental health advocates of the Global Mental Health Action Network in 170 countries that we coordinate. But I also speak as a person living with bipolar and anxiety from the age of 9. This is me speaking professionally and personally.

Together my team and the GMHAN network members have worked tirelessly with other mental health organisations, member states, WHO, UNICEF, the NCD Alliance, researchers and academics, mental health service providers and the private sector to make the most of this historic moment: the first UN HLM to feature mental health at this level.

Together we set out what we see as essential to declaring this HLM and its political declaration a success for mental health.

There have been meetings with over 100 governments – not just organised by civil society but by the many organisations with which we have joined hands. We have helped explain the changes we want to see and why. We have secured new government commitments even in the past few weeks and expect to hear many more today.

We have seen an outpouring of personal reflections from senior leaders on why mental health matters to them. When it comes to mental health we can all speak professionally and personally.

What did we call for?

First, today there is just 1 outpatient facility offering mental health support in low-income countries per 1 million people. Countries spend their tiny mental health budgets on locking people up not caring for them in their communities.

We called for strengthening mental health systems through moving away from institutions to integrated primary and community-based care.

Governments have committed to do this.

And to provide 150 million more people with access to mental health care.

Second, half of all mental health conditions develop by the age of 18. Yet mental health services overwhelmingly focus on adults, leaving young people and their loved ones with nowhere to turn.

In the declaration, governments went some way to recognising young people need support. But we agree with UNICEF, WHO and many others, we need greater action. Now.

Third, suicide accounts for more than one in every 100 deaths. Suicide is illegal in 24 countries, causing pain and suffering when we need to be offering hope and support.  We called for decriminalisation of suicide and more action to prevent suicide. Governments have committed to this.

Fourth, we called for protection from social, economic and commercial determinants that damage our mental health. The mental health of everyone here. Governments fell short on meaningful commitments. We will join the NCDA and many more in continuing to call for greater action. And I am delighted to speak alongside in UNEP in advocating for mental health to be fully integrated in action on the environment and climate change.

This high-level meeting is a historic moment. This declaration is not perfect. And governments have not made all the commitments we want them to make.

But we have only just begun. For governments to succeed in providing better mental health services and support they will need to systematically and meaningfully engage people with lived experience and the organisations working most closely with them. Otherwise, how can governments be sure their policies, plans and investments in mental health will work?

Together we will once again join hands with all our partners. We will keep advocating for urgent action on mental health. Mental health affects each of us.

This is just the start.

Let’s work together to deliver good mental health for all.

Statement two

Thank you to the many speakers today who have outlined their actions to address the mental health crisis. 

We have recognised NCDs and mental health are equally important. We cannot successfully prevent and treat NCDs – or communicable diseases – without addressing and integrating mental health. 

We need to move for mental health – literally. Daily physical exercise is proven to benefit our physical and mental health.

Mental health care is an investment: for countries, for communities, and for individuals. We need to rapidly expand the mental health workforce and all those able to offer evidence-based mental health support. There are far too few mental health workers.

We need mental health in all policies. The declaration highlights the need to take action to address digital harms. I quote the CEO of Pinterest who said, “ I would like to wake up in the world where social media companies and tech companies are competing on safety records in the same way the auto manufacturers compete on theirs.” 

There is one group that we have not been able to hear from at all. Those who are caught up and displaced by catastrophes and emergencies. Access to mental health services for these populations is the theme for World Mental Health Day this year. To all of them, we say we hear you and your mental health matters.

Because, as Sasha and Lucero, two mental health activists from Lebanon and Peru, say, this meeting and this HLM political declaration are not just words; it is lives.