The Province of Cebu once again took a bolder step in becoming the first ever Province to have embraced the importance of mental health, a seemingly unpopular, stigmatic area of human issues.
This after a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed this week between Cebu province, 28 southern LGUs and the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA-Cebu) for the conduct of Community Based Mental Health Program.
The signing was led no less by Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario Davide III and Dr. Glenda Basubas, president of PMHA-Cebu.
There were also officials from the Department of Health and the 28 southern municipalities.
PMHA will soon reach out also to the northern municipalities and cities of the province.
The awareness and understanding of mental health is slowly gaining among Filipinos with the different campaigns led by the government and non government organizations.
According to PMHA, a person's tendency is to deny the existence and his or her sorroundings are unaware of the existence of a mental issue, much more a disorder.
According to mental health statistics,
- Mental health problems are one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide.
- Mental health and behavioural problems (e.g. depression, anxiety and drug use) are reported to be the primary drivers of disability worldwide, causing over 40 million years of disability in 20 to 29-year-olds.
- Major depression is thought to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide and a major contributor to the burden of suicide and ischemic heart disease.3
- It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the past week experienced a common mental health problem
