By PNA
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Wednesday called for an international effort to increase access to effective and affordable treatments and remove the
social stigma attached to depression, saying that the illness is not a matter for experts alone.
"Some 350 million people of all ages, incomes and nationalities suffer from depression. Millions more - family, friends, co- workers - are exposed to the indirect effects of this under- appreciated global health crisis," Ban said in a message marking World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10.
The UN chief stressed that although a wide variety of effective and affordable treatments are available to treat the illness, including psychosocial interventions and medicines, these are not accessible to all people, especially those living in less developed countries and the least advantaged citizens of more developed nations.
"Among the barriers to care and services are social stigma and the lack of general health care providers and specialists trained to identify and treat depression," he said.
Ban noted that the UN World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting countries through its Mental Health Gap Action Program, but added that "depression is not simply a matter for health experts."
"We can all act to relieve the stigma around depression and other mental disorders, perhaps by admitting that we may have experienced depression ourselves, or by reaching out to those experiencing it now," said the secretary-general.
"This is the first critical step to removing one of the barriers to treatment and helping to reduce the disability and distress caused by this global crisis," he added, stressing that the illness diminishes people's ability to cope with the daily challenges of life, and often precipitates family disruption, interrupted education and loss of jobs.
"On World Mental Health Day, let us pledge to talk more openly about depression," Ban said at the end of the message.
World Mental Health Day is a global mental health education, awareness and advocacy project of World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 100 countries.
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