The Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Platform welcomes the launch of the European Mental Health Strategy launched by the European Commission on 7th June 2023. The Strategy is a step in the right direction and highlights the importance of promoting, preventing, mitigating, and responding to mental health conditions. Further, it emphasizes the importance of identifying best practices and innovative solutions to improve the availability, quality, accessibility, and affordability of mental health care.
SIP welcomes the Commission’s focus on inequalities, paying special attention to vulnerable groups (i.e. people with a disability, impairment, or with (multiple) chronic conditions) and stigma on the topic of mental health, as well as on the link between physical and mental health, comorbidities and the multi-disciplinarity approach to mental health capacity building. However, in order to deliver a fully comprehensive European Mental Health Strategy, SIP Calls upon the European Institutions and Member States, to:
- Ensure adequate funding is allocated for the development and delivery of tangible actions and initiatives, comparable to that of the Beating Cancer Plan.
- Strengthen the emphasis and focus on how mental health, its comorbidities, and treatment modalities are defined and addressed, placing special attention to the importance of addressing mental health conditions from a multi-disciplinary approach.
- Better integrate mental health services with associated healthcare services, such as chronic pain management, as the two frequently co-occur and share common mechanisms and risk factors.
- Ensure people with lived experiences from all vulnerable groups are involved in the assessment and continued evaluation of how the strategy shapes the future.
Brona Fullen, President of EFIC
Deirdre Ryan, President of PAE and Co-Chair of SIP
Patrice Forget, Chair of SIP
Deirdre Ryan, President of PAE and Co-Chair of SIP
Patrice Forget, Chair of SIP