Community Based Mental Health Center opened in Kochani

At the opening event, short remarks were delivered by Dr. Bekim Sali, Minister of Health and Dr. Anne Johansen, Special Representative and WHO Head of Office ad interim.

“The Center will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide continuous community-based mental health care and support for citizens, including crisis services. It is designed to create a structure and environment where people with mental disorders can maintain family relationships, friendships and jobs while receiving treatment,” said Minister Sali. “In the upcoming period, such Centers will be opened in Bitola, Kumanovo and Shtip as well.”

Though significant progress in the area of mental health has been made in North Macedonia in the recent past, the COVD-19 pandemic has strained the health system in unprecedented ways and has caused disruption of many essential health services, including those for mental health.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health, fueling short- and long-term stresses and undermining the mental health of millions across the world, including in North Macedonia,” said Dr Johansen. “The need to improve mental health services is now more evident than ever. With establishing these Centers and strengthening community-based mental health care in the already established centers, we have an opportunity to make meaningful progress towards better mental health for North Macedonia’s population.”

Creating community-based networks of interconnected services is an important step towards ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to access the mental health care they need.

“Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to social inclusion and access to the right mental health care services. We urge everyone to seek assistance, if needed.” said Dr Stojan Bajraktarov, WHO focal point in the area of Mental Health and President of the Mental Health Committee within the Ministry of Health.

Strengthening community based mental health services and further opening of additional community based mental health Centers is envisioned within the National Strategy for the Promotion of Mental Health in the Republic of North Macedonia (2018–2025). Adopted by the Government of North Macedonia in 2017, the Strategy envisions decentralizing mental health care as one of the priority areas. In the following period, the Ministry of Health with the support of the UN agencies, WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA will also focus on the area of strengthening mental health services for children and adolescents.

The event was organized right ahead of the World Mental Health Day which is marked every year on 10 October. This year the World Mental Health Day is dedicated to the theme “Make mental health a global priority for all”. The theme recognizes that mental health needs to be valued, promoted and protected, as it is essential to our overall well-being and just as important as physical health.

Marking of the World Mental Health Day is an opportunity for people with mental health conditions, advocates, governments, employers, employees and other stakeholders to come together to recognize progress in this field and to be vocal about what needs to be done to ensure Mental Health & Well-Being becomes a Global Priority for all.

“World Mental Health Day is an excellent opportunity to collectively increase awareness about the value of protecting mental health and commit to work towards ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy mental health and to exercise their human rights,” adds Dr. Bajraktarov.