Mental health of millions impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic: WHO

GENEVA: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) during a virtual press briefing on Thursday, August 28, said that the mental health of millions of people has been impacted due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, adding that, due to the lack of social interaction, the mental health of many has been profoundly affected. The risk of infection is increased for the people living in long-term facilities such as care homes and psychiatric institutions, he said.

Tedros noted that the mental health professionals have themselves been infected with the virus, and some mental health facilities have been closed to be converted into treatment facilities for people with COVID-19. He recalled that even before the pandemic, the mental health was already “a neglected health issue” globally nearly a billion people living with a mental disorder. However, relatively few people have access to adequate care for mental health services. He mentioned that more than 75 per cent of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders in low- and medium-income countries don’t receive treatment for their condition.