Speech By Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh

Honourable Chair,

Respected Chief Guest, Honourable Minister of Health and Family Welfare,

Distinguished guests in the dais,

It aims to advance mental health policies

It is my pleasure to attend this special event today to mark the launch of the Special Initiative for Mental Health, the fruit of the spreading awareness that there can be no health without mental health.

This Special Initiative was globally started in 2018 when WHO Director-General stated the need to ensure that WHO’s ultimate goal, Universal Health Coverage, involves access to quality and affordable care for mental health conditions. It aims to advance mental health policies, advocacy, and human rights and scale up quality interventions and services for individuals with mental health conditions, including substance use and neurological disorders.

It aims to advance mental health policies

Bangladesh was among the first six countries selected under the Special Initiative, and it participated in the first consultation on this Initiative at the WHO HQ in Geneva in January 2020.

The country presents a prevalence of any mental disorder among adults of 16.8% and 12.6% among children, while the treatment gap of mental disorders is 92% among adults and 94.5% among children.

The Government of Bangladesh has been a pioneer in the South-East Asia Region in including mental health as one of the top ten health priorities in its national agenda.

It aims to advance mental health policies

It is my pleasure to attend this special event today to mark the launch of the Special Initiative for Mental Health, the fruit of the spreading awareness that there can be no health without mental health.

This Special Initiative was globally started in 2018 when WHO Director-General stated the need to ensure that WHO’s ultimate goal, Universal Health Coverage, involves access to quality and affordable care for mental health conditions. It aims to advance mental health policies, advocacy, and human rights and scale up quality interventions and services for individuals with mental health conditions, including substance use and neurological disorders.

It aims to advance mental health policies

Bangladesh was among the first six countries selected under the Special Initiative, and it participated in the first consultation on this Initiative at the WHO HQ in Geneva in January 2020.

The country presents a prevalence of any mental disorder among adults of 16.8% and 12.6% among children, while the treatment gap of mental disorders is 92% among adults and 94.5% among children.

The Government of Bangladesh has been a pioneer in the South-East Asia Region in including mental health as one of the top ten health priorities in its national agenda.