Commissioner for Health Androulla Vassiliou launches the European Pact for Mental Health and Well-Being at the High Level Conference on Mental Health in Brussels today. This is the first conference to bring together ministers, experts, patients, health professionals, researchers and high profile personalities and other stakeholders to agree future joint actions to improve mental health in Europe.

The Pact is a call for partnership action. It recognises the health, social and economic benefits of good mental health for all and the need to overcome the taboo and stigma still associated with mental illness. An estimated 11% of Europeans experience some form of mental illness each year. Such disorders can lead to suicides, with one person every 9 minutes committing suicide in the EU. To address this problem and to benefit from shared experience, ministers and experts from across Europe pledged to work together and focus on 5 key areas: prevention of suicide and depression; mental health in youth and education; mental heath in workplace settings; mental health in older people; combating stigma and social exclusion. Further information in details in the Directorate General of health and Consumer Protection.

A call for partnership in action – The European Pact for Mental Health and Well-Being

The pact is a call for partnership in action. It is launched by the European Commission in collaboration with the Slovenian Presidency and the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe. The Pact recognises the challenges in addressing mental health and suggests pooling knowledge from across the EU in order to develop commonly supported recommendations for actions in 5 key areas:

• Prevention of suicide and depression.
• Mental health in youth and education.
• Mental heath in workplace settings.
• Mental health in older people.
• Combating stigma and social exclusion.

Mental health in Europe – Some facts

• Depression is one of the most common and serious mental disorders. Data from western and southern EU Member States indicate a lifetime prevalence of major depression in 9% of adult European men and 17% of adult European women.
• Suicide is a major cause of premature death in Europe, causing a total of 58,000 deaths in the EU in 2006.
• The economic costs of depression in the EU were estimated to be 235 euros per inhabitant in 2004.
• An estimated 50% of mental disorders have their onset during adolescence therefore organisations working with youth need to be equipped to recognise symptoms and react quickly.