Message from the Founder

Abstract

It has been an eventful year since I last wrote for 'ReFrame'. As I had hoped, in this period MHI was able to support a range of mental health concerns, eventually working on national advocacy. Mental Health (MH) issues directly affect over 150 million Indians. Among young persons in the 10-24 age group, suicide is the country's leading cause of death-and still, MH is conspicuous by its absence in the political agenda. MHI was part of a coalition of campaigners who aimed to raise political commitment to work on MH by showing that action on MH matters to voters. The 'Bridge the Care Gap' campaign approached political parties, raised general awareness about rights-based MH, and received multi-sectoral support and signatures for its public petition. 2019 became a milestone year, with MH being mentioned in political manifestos for the first time. Such accountability is a key premise for further progress in the area of rights-based MH, and is cause for cheer. Apart from the work on advocacy, we joined hands with eight new partners-in new locations, and with new focus areas. I am deeply grateful to our first four partners for trusting us as new funders and being patient with us as we learned more. Through these years, two factors have struck me as crucial to work in MH. Firstly, any approach to MH must be driven by an overarching respect for human rights. Human rights violations in the name of treatment have plagued the field of MH-not just historically, but in our own times as well-worsening already prevalent stigma, and reinforcing popular reluctance to reach out for support. We must work to bring about systemic change if we are to ensure a human rights-based approach to MH by practitioners, policy makers and all stakeholders, so as to center informed consent, and to abide by and promote international human rights standards. Second, and complementary to the principle of human rights, is the necessity of an intersectoral approach. MH needs to be recognized not just as a health issue alone, but also as a development issue. It is well understood today that socioeconomic factors play a key role in determining mental health. Collaborations across sectors such as housing, education, livelihood, and access to food and water, alongside more traditional MH services, would therefore have a positive impact on MH. So, I invite you all, whether philanthropist or CSR-based initiative, in the sphere of health or of education or some other sector, to explore how you could introduce facets of MH in the work you do.