Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-18-Speech-3-306"
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"en.20090218.29.3-306"2
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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, there is now an ever-increasing awareness that there is no health without mental health. We realise that mental health problems frequently have an impact, from a humanitarian and financial point of view, both on the personal, family, professional and social lives of the individuals and their families and on society as a whole.
The figures speak for themselves: one in four people will experience some form of mental disorder. Depression is one of the most common disorders and, by 2020, will be the most common illness in the developed world. Some 59 000 suicides are committed in the European Union every year, 90% of which are attributable to mental disorder. Vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as disabled people, are more likely to suffer mental health problems.
Also, in an ageing Europe, neurodegenerative disorders are becoming ever more common. We will therefore all agree that there is a need to take a concerted approach to the challenges posed by mental health and that it concerns us all. We all have an obligation to defend mental health and safeguarding the rights of mental patients and their families is an ideological and political position whereby the state provides social support and protection to those who need it. The first step was the Commission’s Green Paper; the next step was the European Conference ‘Together for Mental Health and Wellbeing’, which also established the European Pact for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
In keeping with this, the report on mental health, which was approved unanimously by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, includes a series of recommendations to promote the mental health and wellbeing of the populace, to combat the stigma of discrimination and social exclusion, to strengthen preventive action and self-help, and to provide support and adequate treatment to people with mental health problems and to their families and carers.
In the report, we stress the need to provide high-quality, accessible, effective and universal mental health services and up-to-date legislation. We call for emphasis to be placed on the training of everyone in key positions. We call for access to appropriate education, training and employment and for the creation of a supportive environment, with particular emphasis on vulnerable groups. We call for emphasis to be placed on the prevention of mental ill-health through social intervention. We call for the Member States to empower organisations which represent people with mental health problems. We propose the adoption of a platform to monitor the implementation of the Pact. We call on the Commission to present the conclusions of the thematic conferences. We stress the need to produce appropriate indicators with a view to improving the assessment of needs at national and European level.
At the same time, we are formulating proposals within the framework of the five priority areas of the Pact. Within this framework, we stress that, in order to prevent depression and suicide, we need to implement multi-sectoral programmes and set up networks, to develop a healthy climate in schools, to improve working conditions, to adopt measures to improve the quality of life and, finally, as regards combating stigma and social exclusion, we stress that public information and awareness campaigns are needed. For this, I should like to thank the members who contributed with their proposals and I hope that we shall send out a message that mental health is a valuable social commodity and that we all need to work to promote it."@en1
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