During the second day of sessions of the 30th session of the Pan American Sanitary Conference of the Pan American Health Organization, the Panamanian delegation addressed the issue of mental health as a priority in Public Health while requesting that it be assigned enough budget and greater collective awareness, working more on preventive care and not only on the disease.
This was stated by the deputy director of Planning of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Félix Correa, who was responsible for presenting the position on the resolution document CSP 30/9 that seeks to establish a policy to improve mental health.
During his speech, he highlighted important elements of a global nature, as well as regional and sub-regional; that seek to refine adequate strategies to reflect on mental health, as a transcendental element of health.
He explained that “during the last few years, each and every one of us has recognized the importance of mental health in our lives, we have tested our collective and individual ability to think, we have understood the positive of interacting with others, winning the sustenance and enjoy the different moments of life”.
Correa added that “Panama welcomes the policy to improve the mental health of the member states and needs to highlight multisectoral alliances, to integrate mental health into all policies and that the availability, accessibility and quality of community services directed to mental health and the consumption of psychoactive substances; promotion and prevention throughout the life course; psychosocial support in the context of emergencies; and strengthening data, as well as evidence and research.”
He stressed that this pandemic has emphasized the importance of mental health programs, not only aimed at the general population, but also at health personnel.
“It is clear that the exhaustion of health personnel, with strenuous hours and ethical dilemmas that impact their mental health, but human minds can recover, we just need to direct our actions, plans and national models towards this achievement with a strategic collaboration remembering public-private”, he concluded.
For the third day of sessions, scheduled for this Wednesday the 28th, PAHO Member States and participants will elect the next director of the Pan American Health Organization, through a secret voting system and it is the first time that Panama has nominated a candidate in the figure to the former Minister of Health, Dr. Camilo Alleyne.
