Amnesty: Make mental health priority

THE Government has come under renewed pressure to deliver on its own document for mental health services, after Amnesty International said it was time for politicians to deliver on promises.

In a letter sent to all politicians in Leinster House, Amnesty International Ireland executive director Colm O’Gorman said political willpower was needed to make mental health a priority this year.

The letter comes as mental health service users prepare to meet members of the Cross Party Oireachtas Group on Mental Health in Leinster House on Wednesday, also to discuss the Vision for Change document.

That policy was published four years ago, but the committee charged with gauging its implementation has consistently criticised the slow rate of progress.

In the letter Mr O’Gorman urges politicians to address “the hidden crisis behind the economic crisis”: “2010 can be the year when we finally deliver on decades of promises for mental health, but it will require political willpower.”

He said key measures that should be undertaken include: a review of the Mental Health Act 2001 and update it in line with the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; relevant Government Departments, not just the Department of Health and Children, take action on mental health; and new legislation should be introduced to deliver appropriate community-based mental health services.

He said mental health had not been granted the priority status it deserves.

“We urgently need a renewed political commitment to mental health from all parties,” he said.

As for this Wednesday’s meeting in Leinster House, Chris Andrews, co-convener of the Cross Party Group, said: “We are now four years on from the publication of the state’s mental health policy, and it makes sense that the service users in this area are given a platform to discuss their views on how the strategy is progressing.”

The group will hear from a number of people who have accessed mental health services, as well as representatives from the National Service Users Executive, Headstrong – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Suicide or Survive and Amnesty International’s mental health Experts by Experience Advisory Panel.