Malé, Maldives — A collaborative effort from several relevant authorities are ongoing to host a webinar for the World Mental Health Day of 2020.
The webinar, named after the theme of 2020, “Move for mental health: let’s invest,” will be held on Saturday night from 2030hrs to 2200hrs. This year’s slogan emphasizes the improvement of sustaining and increasing investments for mental health, while also acknowledging all the progressive strides that have been taken in the sector.
While the webinar will be shown on Zoom, it will also be livestreamed on Facebook to ensure that the targeted viewers can see the webinar easily. It is specifically targeted towards the public and government counterparts, UN agencies and NGOs along with CGOs.
While First Lady Fazna Ahmed will do the honors of delivering a speech regarding the theme, experts from Maldivian Red Crescent, UNICEF Maldives, Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH)’s Mental Health Centre and Health Protection Agency will also be contributing to the speeches delivered in tonight’s webinar.
Furthermore, the webinar will be highlighting some of the points relating to the theme such as:
- The importance of preparedness.
- Scaling up service provision of PSS to help meet demands and fill gaps.
- Prevalence of mental health conditions in Maldives.
- The availability of services with focus on the care gap.
- Addressing the stigma against the most vulnerable
- Importance of inclusion in addressing mental health stigma.
- The challenges that will be faced by mental health providers.
- Opportunities received for mental health service providers.
- highlighting the role of mental health service providers.
- The effect of the ongoing pandemic on the mental health of children and young people.
- The promotion of mental and emotional wellbeing after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The webinar will also be providing information about the National Mental Health Plan of Maldives, along with the strategic direction and the services that are available in the region.
“This campaign offers opportunities for all of us to do something life-affirming: as individuals, to take concrete actions in support of our own mental health, and to support friends and family who are struggling; as employers, to take steps towards putting programmes in place for employee wellness; as governments, to commit to establishing or scaling-up mental health services; and as journalists, to tell the world what more can and must be done to make mental health a reality for everyone,” stated the World Health Organization.