SEARO and the Future of Public Health

Over the past few decades, the countries of WHO’s South East Asia region have made major strides in both clinical medicine and public health. They have benefitted from government commitment and the strong human resource capacity of healthcare and health-related personnel, many of whom have led a successful fight against TB, leprosy, polio, malaria, and other communicable diseases as well as maternal, newborn and child health that have long plagued the region. They have done this against a backdrop of massive rural-to-urban migration, the emergence of cities whose health and social services have been pushed to the limit, and epidemiological transition and the emergence of new lifestyles and associated health challenges.

So today, as the SEARO Region prepares for a new Regional Director, the demographic transition, impact on health of climate change, preparedness for future pandemic and most importantly it’s vast range of non-communicable diseases, that are now challenging governments and their ministries of health. Foremost among non-communicable diseases are a series of mental health problems associated with stigma, discrimination, marginalization and misunderstanding that in the past have been poorly addressed, and which now call for urgent attention. Throughout the world more work days are being lost as a result of a pandemic of mental health problems that are undermining family health and stability, eroding many of the gains that have been achieved in education and literacy, and placing demands on healthcare systems that have traditionally focused on communicable diseases and not kept pace with this new world of mental health challenge. Young people in the SEARO region are being threatened as never before, along with alarming suicide rates. All these were recognized at the last SEARO Regional Committee in Bhutan in 2022 WHO, when the member states of WHO adopted the Paro Declaration calling for new vision and commitment to mental health care and the development of services that focus on community participation and primary care that is not only delivered by doctors and nurses, but also by psychiatric social workers, and many other paramedical personnel who can be trained to take on this new and fast-growing problem. The Ministers of Health who came together to address this new challenge agreed that “…there can be no health without mental health” and they called for major investments to be made by governments and external partners in preventing and mitigating mental health problems in ways that reduce treatment costs and increase human productivity, employment and quality of life.

If the SEARO region and its Member States are to move forward and take up this dramatic emerging problem, it must do so with vision and a deep understanding of the world of mental health, psychosocial wellbeing, and the role of community and society in promoting and protecting mental health. This will not be simple or easy, but if it is not taken up just as the regions’ Ministers of Health asked for in their Paro Declaration, countries will find themselves faced with one of the most complex public health problem the region has ever seen, and health and socioeconomic development risks being stunted.

Whoever is selected to take SEARO and its Member States into the new future, must have a clear understanding of the challenge of mental health and a body of experience in the area of mental health prevention and management as well as negotiating power to bring wide range of experts together that can foster and work hand in hand with the region’s member states public health policy makers, healthcare workers and social sector resources in a new and exciting SEARO public health venture. These are qualities not easily come by, and at the time of writing this, Saima Wazed seems to bring the type of mental health background and experience as will needed drive, dedication and expertise.