EU makes mental illness top priority

Tackling mental illnesses will be one of the European Union's priorities when it drawsup its new multiannual public health programmeearly next year.

The decision to focus more EU attention on mental health questions was taken by European health ministers last week, largely on the insistence of the Finnish government, which currently holds the rotating, six month EU presidency. Welcoming the move, the Finnish social affairs minister, Eva Biaudet, said: “I am glad this has been agreed, as some people think it is a taboo subject. But there is no health without mental health.” Now that the principle has been established—and the Portuguese, who take over the EU presidency from the Finns in January, also consider this to be a public health priority—there will be pressure on the European Union to devise practical measures to support national efforts to cope with mental illnesses.

Health ministers have already pointed to the need to collect and disseminate quality data on mental health, to exchange examples of good practice, and to promotejoint projects between different national medical authorities.

The European Commission itself has been asked to establish a mental health monitoring system, designed to examine trends in the union and to produce a report on the subject. In addition, it will analyse the impact on mental health of EU policies such as education, youth, social affairs, and employment. The public health commissioner, David Byrne, made clear his priorities last week when he expressed his “concern at the incidence of mental health problems in children and adolescents and at suicides among children, especially teenage boys, where they are on the increase.”