“There is no health without mental health”, asserts the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the foreword to the 2022 World Mental Health report.
As countries around the world continue to relax COVID-19 restrictions in an attempt to return to “normalcy”, the lingering impacts of the pandemic on mental health cannot be ignored or reversed. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already underserved yet critical aspect of health and well-being, and children and young people were particularly affected. A rapid assessment of adolescents and young people in Latin America and the Caribbean revealed that 27% reported experiencing depression and 15% experiencing anxiety, over the course of the pandemic.
As persistent advocates for children and youth, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC)’s youth arm – Healthy Caribbean Youth – with support from regional youth organisations and allies, have developed the Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action (CYMHCTA), under the slogan, “There is no health without Mental Health”, to mobilise regional policymakers into prioritising the mental health and well-being of this key demographic.
The CYMHCTA, which was officially launched today, World Mental Health Day, represents a culmination of months of collaborative effort among regional youth and youth organisations. The CYMHCTA emphasises four (4) key calls. These are:
- Leadership: to prioritise integration of mental health into existing health policies and emergency plans and ensure youth are meaningfully engaged in policy development.
- Research: to inform mental health programming and policies.
- Regulations/Policies: to protect children and youth from health-harming products, harassment, stigma and discrimination.
- Services: to support the mental health and well-being of children and youth.
The Call to Action was informed by nearly 50 consultations with youth, youth organisations and youth allies across the Caribbean including the Pan American Health Organization, and as such, is a plea by youth, for youth to get the mental health support and resources they need and deserve.
Fulfilment of the call is well within countries’ mandates, as States have binding obligations, pursuant to their ratification of international treaties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to respect, protect and fulfil children’s health rights, including their mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Pierre Cooke Jr., Youth Technical Advisor for the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, called for action to protect young people’s mental health, “We want this message to reach as far as the Prime Ministers of our countries in the Caribbean so that we can get policies implemented to protect our young people. More and more, we are seeing a gap in care for young people across the region. This is why we are calling for leadership, we are calling for improved research, we’re calling for all the things to ensure that mental health is protected as much as physical health.”
Now more than ever, the mental health of our region’s young people needs to be a priority. We should not wait for the next pandemic or climate crisis.
Alaina Gomes, Counselling Psychologist and Healthy Caribbean Youth member from Antigua and Barbuda shared this sentiment and called for collaborative action, “If Mental health practitioners and Advocates get support from the Government and other Organisations to see the necessity for the implementation of these policies, the introduction of research and essentially what the call is suggesting. We CAN and WILL find the resources to do it. We all just need to work together.”
We must learn from COVID-19 and initiate whole-of-government, whole-of-society action to ensure that young people’s mental health is promoted and protected, that support and services are available and accessible to them, and that they themselves are meaningfully engaged in this movement.
“It is imperative as we build back better from COVID-19 and that we do not let mental health slip through the cracks. From Healthy Caribbean Youth’s perspective, it is important that we act urgently, guided by evidence-based and youth-informed solutions. The Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action can serve as this guide.”