Improvement involves educators, among others.

• Author: Herrman, Helen
• Position: Mental Health - Related article: Follow-up: resources fall short of needs

While programmes directed at improving physical health have had remarkable success in many parts of the world, mental health has been neglected. This neglect is all the more serious in view of the large and growing burden that mental disorders cause for individuals and the community. Social and economic development can also threaten mental health unless action is taken to avoid and reverse this. Most importantly, our knowledge is sufficient to take action, to reduce the burden and improve mental health through health promotion.' However, people in many countries and in different cultures remain convinced about the relevance of mental health to their own situations.

Partnerships between global and local communities can help make mental illness and mental health the business of everybody. The widely held opinion that this illness is a problem of the wealthy or the western world could not be further from reality. The World Health Report 2001 presents evidence that in all countries, whether rich or poor, mental illness is linked with poverty and the disadvantaged. There are new and effective treatments, including medicines for depression, psychosis and epilepsy, as well as psychological and social therapies, but they reach few of those who require them. Suicide is an important public health problem closely linked to mental health and is a major cause of mortality, especially for people living with mental disorders, affected adversely by alcohol and drugs and suffering social and economic stress.

The global community can contribute to local change by persuading decision-makers and the public that mental health is important and that change is possible. Improving mental health requires its promotion, as well as the prevention and treatment of disorders. The activities underpinning these are different from each other, but all depend on local information and research to support their planning and evaluation, for which international links and partnerships are again vital.

Mental health is the foundation for the well-being and effective functioning of individuals. It is more than the absence of mental disorder. It is the ability to think and learn, and to understand and live with one's own emotions and the reactions of others. It is a state of balance, with physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual contributions. (2) The links between mental and physical health are intimate and relevant in many ways to public health planning.

Mental...