World Mental Health Day

Message of UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Mental health is vital to humanity, allowing us to lead fulfilling lives and contribute fully to our communities.

Yet one in eight people around the world lives with a mental health condition, with women and young people being disproportionately impacted.  Three in four people affected receive inadequate treatment – or no care at all.  And many face stigma and discrimination.

Mental health is not a privilege but a fundamental human right – and must be part of universal health coverage.  Governments must provide care that promotes people’s recovery and upholds their rights.  This includes strengthening community-based support and integrating psychological help into broader health and social care.

We must also tackle abuses and break down the barriers that prevent people from seeking support. And we must address root causes – poverty, inequality, violence, discrimination – and create more compassionate and resilient societies.

On World Mental Health Day and every day, let us reaffirm and uphold mental health as a universal human right, and together, build a healthier world where everyone can thrive.

“Our minds, our rights"

World Mental Health Day 2023 is an opportunity for people and communities to unite behind the theme ‘Mental health is a universal human right” to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental health as a universal human right.

Mental health is a basic human right for all people. Everyone, whoever and wherever they are, has a right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. This includes the right to be protected from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable, and good quality care, and the right to liberty, independence and inclusion in the community.

Good mental health is vital to our overall health and well-being. Yet one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions, which can impact their physical health, their well-being, how they connect with others, and their livelihoods. Mental health conditions are also affecting an increasing number of adolescents and young people.  

Having a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their human rights or to exclude them from decisions about their own health. Yet all over the world, people with mental health conditions continue to experience a wide range of human rights violations. Many are excluded from community life and discriminated against, while many more cannot access the mental health care they need or can only access care that violates their human rights.

WHO continues to work with its partners to ensure mental health is valued, promoted, and protected, and that urgent action is taken so that everyone can exercise their human rights and access the quality mental health care they need. Join the World Mental Health Day 2023 campaign to learn more about your basic right to mental health as well as how to protect the rights of others.

[END]

For more information and resources at the following link:

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2023