EU countries should set up cross-sectoral mental health strategies, Council says

EU health ministers approved on Thursday (30 November) a series of recommendations to tackle mental health issues in member states, emphasising the need for a multidisciplinary approach. 

“As you know, we live in a time of polycrisis that has severely hit the mental health of Europeans,” said Mónica García Gómez, Spanish minister for health, during the employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs Council (EPSCO) on Thursday.

Before the pandemic, mental health problems were affecting one in six people in the EU, according to figures from the European Commission. However, last year, almost one in two citizens reported an emotional or psychosocial problem, the same figures show.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine or the climate crisis itself are just some of the shocks which have exacerbated already poor levels of mental health. Improving mental health is a social and economic imperative,” Gómez said. 

In June, the Commission presented its very first mental health strategy highlighting the need for a cross-sectoral approach, to be achieved through 20 flagship actions, with a total budget of €1.23 billion. 

“We presented the EU’s first comprehensive approach to mental health. With your strong support, we have put the focus on a holistic, prevention-oriented, multi-stakeholder approach that complements and adds value to your work,” EU health chief Stella Kyriakides told the health ministers at EPSCO.

Drawing on the Commission’s strategy, the ministers adopted conclusions to strengthen member states’ actions when tackling mental health issues, highlighting the importance of a cross-sectoral approach. 

In other words, EU countries should not only address mental health in the health sector but also other aspects of life such as work, education, digitalisation, culture, climate change and more. 

The total costs of mental health problems are estimated at more than 4% of GDP in all member states, or more than €600 billion per year.

“It is paramount therefore to have as our guiding principle a mental health across all policies approach, combined with easy and equal access to care for all, focusing on those most in need, especially our children and young people and our elderly,” said Kyriakides.  

“Member states are invited to ensure access to timely, effective and safe mental health care, as well as to act across a wide spectrum of areas, sectors and ages,” a press release from the Council reads. 

Prevention from school to work 

Suggested actions by the Council cover a wide range of areas, starting with early detection among young people, as one in three to five children or adolescents have an anxiety disorder at some point, according to The Lancet.

EU health ministers have approved conclusions that specifically target the world of work, such as managing psychosocial risks at work, with special attention to health professionals. 

“Work can be a setting which amplifies wider issues that negatively affect mental health, including discrimination and inequality based on factors such as race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social origin, migrant status, religion or age,” according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The Council also emphasised the need for social and job reintegration after recovering from mental health problems to avoid relapses, and the need to tackle loneliness and suicidal behaviour. 

“I am deeply pleased that in the conclusions we approve today we have obtained such important consensus as the need to implement an approach to mental health that covers all policies and recognizes the social, environmental and economic determinants of mental health,” said Gómez. 

“Never before have we had such high awareness of the need for action on mental health. Now it is high time to deliver on that commitment, implementing these flagship actions across the EU with you and with stakeholders,” concluded Kyriakides.

Reaction from Mental Health Europe

In a press release following the Council’s approval, non-governmental network organisation Mental Health Europe (MHE) said: “We positively value the Council recommendation to the EU and the Member States to continue moving towards a comprehensive approach to mental health in 2024 and beyond.”

MHE welcomed the acknowledgement that mental health is shaped by environmental, socio-economic and commercial determinants and that health ministers agreed on the need for an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. 

However, despite MHE having a good overall appreciation of the Council’s conclusions, the patient’s association criticised the lack of a tool to assess the benefits – or not – of the national action plans. 

“We would have appreciated a recommendation on the introduction of a mental health impact assessment, to evaluate the effect of different EU actions, policies and funding programmes on mental health,” MHE concluded. 

[Edited by Giedrė Peseckytė]

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