Mental health has risen to the top of the health policy agenda worldwide and most particularly in developed countries in the past few years, said Health Minister Louis Deguara.

Dr Deguara was speaking at a seminar organised by the National Mental Health Commission with the theme “The importance of employment for recovery”.

Dr Deguara said there was a time when mental health was considered to be one of the “Cinderella” areas in the field of medicine and health care. “This is certainly no longer the case. Governments, health professionals, international organisations and civil society are all working together to overcome mental illness and reduce the impact it is leaving on society,” he said.

He said that earlier this year, the European Union published a Green Paper on mental health and held a wide consultation.

It has been established that one in four Europeans will suffer from some form of mental illness at some point in time.

However, mental illness does not only involve the individual affected, it also involves families, workplace colleagues and society in general, he said.

Dr Deguara said the challenge we are facing is the prevention of mental illness that can be prevented and the speedy and effective treatment and rehabilitation for those who suffer from some type of mental illness.

The spectrum of mental illness and the disability associated with it is extremely wide and one has to be wary from generalising when discussing mental health as various approaches need to be taken to ensure that we are catering for all the needs.

“My government has been working steadily to place mental health at the heart of health policy and initiatives in Malta for a number of years. The process of entering into a new era for mental health services was kick-started by the adoption of the National Mental Health Policy,” he said.

Dr Deguara explained that since then, striking changes have been achieved.

One of the most impressive achievements has been the de-institutionalisation of a couple of hundred persons who never imagined that they would set foot outside Mount Carmel Hospital for the remainder of their lives, he said.

He said Mount Carmel hospital itself had undergone several reforms in both the clinical and managerial aspects that relate to care and service provision.

This was possible because the workers embraced the necessary changes. “I am pleased to state that this hospital has really entered the modern era in terms of care and management systems,” he said.

Dr Deguara said that while Malta continued to work to improve the quality of care provided within Mount Carmel, focus has now shifted to developing services within the community as this is where we would like persons suffering from mental illness to live and work.

“I recognise that this is still a long and uphill struggle, yet we must acknowledge that progress is being made. The pilot projects such as that in Qormi are yielding favourable results and the future lies in finding sustainable ways of rolling these out on a larger scale,” he said.

“We are currently in the final stages of drafting a new Mental Health Act which I hope to be presenting for discussion in Cabinet shortly. This act will thoroughly modernise the legislative infrastructure underlying mental health. It will give patients the rights they deserve in today’s society and will provide health professionals with the necessary tools to facilitate their work,” he said.

Dr Deguara said that mental illness does not only affect the individuals but also affects their families and society in general.

Raising awareness for early detection and referral can often be an important step to prevent admission for example in cases of depression.

“It is indeed worrying to see an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression among children and adolescents. We need to see what is bringing this about and we need to try to change those factors which are amendable to change,” he said.

He said the government was working closely with the Education Division to try and foster early recognition and referral of children with mental health problems.

Furthermore, he said: “There is much evidence that employment and work is associated with mental well-being; one of the adverse consequences of unemployment is indeed mental illness. However the links between mental health and employment are very complex. We need to ensure that our industrial and competitiveness policies support health in the world of work,” he said.

Dr Deguara said that people needed to pay attention to work-life balance.

“We need to raise recognition and awareness among employers and industry that stress and burnout are often associated or act as triggers for anxiety and depression,” he said.