10
Oct
2024
Watch
World Mental Health Day - need for a comprehensive EU strategy on mental health (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, today we are celebrating World Mental Health Day, but we must remember that mental health requires daily action that must be courageous and concrete. Mental health cannot be treated as a secondary issue. Today, 84 million people in Europe live with mental disorders and the costs to society exceed EUR 600 billion per year, or 4% of European GDP. It is a problem that concerns each of us and that has been further exacerbated, as my colleagues have said, by the ongoing crises: the pandemic, which has forced us into social distancing measures; inflation, which brings families to their knees who can no longer shop and make it to the end of the month; unemployment, which does not allow young people to find their own autonomy. These are all aspects that affect our mental health. The European Commission finally launched a comprehensive strategy last year that focuses on three key pillars: prevention, access to quality care and social reintegration. This is a step forward, but we call for mental health to be integrated into all EU policies, from education to work and social inclusion. We must make full use of European funds to strengthen the training of professionals and to promote innovative tools, such as telemedicine, which can improve access to care, especially in the most isolated areas. We must vigorously combat the stigma surrounding mental disorders. Here, we will always continue to fight for a fairer, more inclusive Europe, where no one is left alone to face their own problems.