The first meeting of the ASEAN task force on mental health is being heldin Hanoi from May 23-25, with delegates from regional and globalorganisations taking part.

Addressing the openingceremony, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Nguyen Thi Xuyen said theevent offers countries a chance to share good practices in protectingmental health, contributing to strengthening cooperation in the regionand fulfilling the goal of “Healthy people, healthy ASEAN”.

Xuyen called on countries to build comprehensive strategies to preventand improve treatment of mental disorders, including paying moreattention to enhancing public awareness of anti-discrimination,generating more jobs and providing the mentally ill with health careservices, and working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO)to build a detailed action plan to address the issue.

During the event, over 70 participants will discuss ways ofimplementing the ASEAN action plan on mental health for the 2011-2015period, such as developing the ASEAN policy on mental health,integrating mental health into the health care system, increasinginformation system on mental health, knowledge management and research,and establishing the ASEAN mental health network.

According to the WHO, over 150 million people worldwide suffer fromdepression, over 40 million are living with epilepsy and 24 million havedementia. Notably, most of them come from low and middle-incomecountries.-VNA