Op-Ed on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day

Kuwait – We commemorate the World Mental Health Day annually on the 10th of October; however, this year it is corresponding at times when it is crucial more than ever to address it and be aware of its consequences. The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted our lives drastically in different sectors. The past months have brought many challenges for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing, according to a new WHO survey. In response to the rising need for mental health and psychosocial support services among responders and the community at large, the State of Kuwait has demonstrated a leading role in launching initiatives and ensuring access to mental health services. The Kuwait Ministry of Health through Kuwait’s Center for Mental Health and Central Administration for Primary Care launched a number of novel initiatives to improve access to care and overcome limitations imposed by lockdowns and quarantines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst these initiatives are the launching of a hotline (+965 2462 1770) to deliver online consultations by the Kuwait Center for Mental Health. In addition to launching of an interactive application “Shlonik” by the Ministry of Health that aims to engage with citizens and residents to ensure their safety, provide health information, and monitor patients. While also conducting all the outpatient psychiatric consultations and primary mental health clinics online from since end of March 2020. Specialized psychiatric clinics delivered psychotropic medicines to the homes of their registered patients to ensure continuity of their treatment regimens. Also, Specialized psychiatric clinics delivered psychotropic medicines to the homes of their registered patients to ensure continuity of their treatment regimens. Dr. Tarek AlSheikh, Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinate of United Nations in Kuwait underscored the importance of maintaining a healthy mental state at such times “The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all previous norms to it, while introducing a “new normal” to our daily lives. It is crucial for us to take a moment and ensure that our mental health state is equipped to deal with such challenging times.”

Building on this, the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in Kuwait organized a UN75 webinar session on “Health and Wellbeing During COVID-19” in collaboration with the keynote speaker Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa for the UN staff.

This year on World Mental Health Day, as part of a campaign launched by WHO titles “Move for Mental Health”, WHO is inviting the global community to take part in The Big Event for Mental Health, an unprecedented online advocacy event that will call for increased investment in mental health at all levels  ̶  from individuals to businesses to countries to civil society  ̶  so that the world can begin to close the gaps highlighted by today’s report. The Big Event is free and open to the public and will be broadcast on 10 October from 16:00 to 19:00 CEST on WHO’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn channels and website.

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