EU launches plan to tackle mental illness and reduce number of suicides

doi:10.1136/bmj.a381

BMJ 2008;336:1394 (21 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a381

News

EU launches plan to tackle mental illness and reduce number of suicides

Rory Watson

¹ Brussels

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The European Union has launched a five point plan to tacklemental illnesses, which it says currently affect one in 10 peoplein Europe.

The strategy, which has the support of the World Health Organization’sregional office for Europe, is set out in the new European pactfor mental health and wellbeing. This was signed at a conferencein Brussels on 13 June by the European Commission, WHO, andthe Slovenian government as current holder of the EU presidency.

The decision to give greater political priority to mental healthissues reflects the fact that around 50 million Europeans experiencesome form of mental disorder. At some point in their lives 17%of women and 9% of men have major depression, says a paper preparedfor the commission and presented at the conference.

This can lead to the suicide of many of the people affected.In 2006 45 000 men and . . . [Full text of this article]

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