In advance of the United
Nations High-level Meeting on Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control,
taking place next week, Soroptimist International supported a joint statement
from the NGO Forum for Health (Geneva)
and the NGO Committee on Mental Health (New York).

The statement calls upon the Member States of the UN to include
mental health as a non-communicable disease (NCDs), in recognition of the fact
that good health requires mental well being, in addition to physical well
being.

The statement urged
Member States of the United Nations to include mental health as a fundamental
consideration in their approach to NCDs and stressed the fact that the inclusion of mental
health in the WHO Global Strategy for the Prevention and
Control of Noncommunicable Diseases will hasten its
achievement.

“Mental health disorders are
noncommunicable diseases with features in common with the selected NCDs –
cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory disorders and diabetes –
notably chronicity and the need for long-term treatment and care…

…We agree with the WHO Commission
on Social Determinants of Health that health strategies must build squarely
on the premise that improved conditions of life and the eradication of poverty
are fundamental to the improvement of human health and well-being.

[NCDs and mental disorders]
arise together. Persons with diabetes have twice the risk of being depressed as
non-diabetic persons. New research shows that depression and life style risks –
lack of exercise, obesity and smoking – are together strong determinants of
Alzheimer’s disease, as they are of the four selected NCDs. Because of their
extraordinary long-term demand on health systems and human resources and the
need for their sustainability, the dementias are emerging as the most costly
global epidemic yet; action to prevent them must be prioritized.

We urge the Heads of State and
Government of the United Nations to acknowledge that to enhance global health
and lower the economic burden of disease, especially in resource poor settings,
interventions must address the two groups of diseases inseparably. Omission of
mental disorders from the global NCD agenda will only aggravate the stigma
attached to these disorders.”

International
Assistant Programme Director, Anusha Santhirasthipam, commented during
discussions on the statement: “Mental health issues like depression,
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are setting alarming trends worldwide
especially with more countries being declared ‘aging nations’. I think
Soroptimists will be unanimous in supporting the inclusion of mental health in
the WHO Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable
Diseases.”