MKRF, British Asian Trust launch ‘biggest-ever’ mental health campaign ‘Milkar’

A mental health campaign named ‘Milkar’ was launched in Karachi on Friday.The Mir Khalilur Rehman Foundation (MKRF) and the British Asian Trust have partnered the 12-month mental health campaign.

Speaking as keynote speaker, former federal minister Dr Zafar Mirza said that in 1948 when the World Health Organisation was coming together, member states joined their heads to define health.

“What is health? Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, which means that there is no health without mental health. I think this is one of the most powerful messages which must be leading any campaign on mental health,” he added. Dr Mirza said he had encapsulated the history of mental health in four words. “We have evolved in our perceptions of mental health from bad to mad to sad and to add,” he went on, explaining: “Bad meaning that if you go two centuries back, people with mental health issues were considered as wicked ones (gunahgar or buray log). But by the time this century started, we started calling them mad because they are not in their senses. And after the Second World War, we started feeling sad about people who have mental health issues because they are the ones to be sympathized and empathized with. Now we talk about adding mental health issues into the mainstream of healthcare.”

Dr Mirza said countries were at different stages of this evolution, as in many lower middle income countries, people with mental health problems are still thought of as people who are bad or mad. “In Pakistan, according to certain very reliable estimates, in a population of 250 million people, every fifth person has some kind of emotional or behavioural problem, which is a very large population,” he highlighted. He lamented that 90 per cent of people with some kind of mental health problem had no access to mental healthcare.

“Every fourth woman who undergoes childbirth in Pakistan also undergoes some kind of depressiveness. We call it perinatal depression,” he said and added that a research in Islamabad had also shown that every fifth school-going child was having some kind of emotional and behavioural problem and these are the children who are able to go to schools and we have millions of out-of-school children in Pakistan.

“More than 60 per cent of adult mental health disorders are embedded in early childhood. So, if we start actually focusing on women and early childhood, we can actually deal with the bulk of the problem,” he suggested.

Though there are issues of lack of access to mental health care, the tide is turning and initiatives are being taken to tackle mental health in Pakistan, he said, adding that the ‘Milkar’ is one of them.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said: “Unfortunately, as a society, we are optics-driven. So for us, health is what is visible to us. If I am standing straight and walking, I am healthy but what is going through my mind is not visible to people. I think that is the biggest problem.”

“If we are to change and fight this challenge, we need to first make sure that health is not just physical health but it is also mental health, and that will start with discussing it openly. We need to encourage people to speak about this reality of life.”

Murtaza called for enlisting all stakeholders and working together as a team.The mayor said the KMC would partner in all such initiatives and offered the City Council space to be utilized for such events where young children, teachers and parents can be brought in for meaningful dialogue.

Shahrukh Hasan, the MKRF and Jang Group’s group managing director, said the campaign is not just about bringing awareness but about sparking real change in the way we think, act, and behave when it comes to issues relating to mental health and mental well-being. “We have named the campaign ‘Milkar’ because that’s how we intend to tackle the multidimensional problems that will confront us,” he explained.

“It’s actually going to be a very long, comprehensive campaign, spread over one year. And I was just informed that this is in fact the largest ever campaign on mental health anywhere in the world.”

Explaining there would be four phases of the campaign, he said: “The first phase is to give you facts and figures that are bewildering and astonishing. Millions of people are suffering in silence and living in the shadow of anxiety, depression, trauma, and countless other daily conditions that can devastate lives. In a country of 240 million, one out of every four or five Pakistanis is facing some form of mental illness and there is one psychiatric for every half a million patients.”

“The numbers are just staggering and tell a very grim story. The second phase is raising the red flags that all of us must be familiar with and be able to respond. If we can only spot the early symptoms that we see amongst our family and friends, and are able to know how to respond, how to look out for help, who to call. I think that will go a long way and make a world of difference. The third phase is to reduce, if not to completely remove, the stigma associated with discussions on mental health.”

Hasan said the campaign will include success stories of people who have recovered completely to show that the mental health problem is not something which is irreversible. The fourth phase would be a resounding call to action where both people suffering with mental illnesses and their family and friends will know how to respond to these challenges, who and when to reach out for help, he added.

“For the Milkar campaign to succeed, we must not only change our conversation, but our mindsets and behaviours. It is time to treat mental health as a fundamental part of our lives - just like going to a doctor for treatment, or exercising to stay fit” he said.

Kamyla Marvi Tapal, country director, British Asian Trust, said the campaign is not just another awareness drive but a comprehensive and multifaceted approach designed to reach every corner of society, and through partnership with the largest media group, it can reach 75 per cent population of our country.

“Our mission is to create a Pakistan where mental health is understood, accepted, and prioritised,” she said, adding that the campaign aims to bring about change in knowledge, attitude, and behaviours.

In order to achieve these outcomes, Kamyla said that the British Asian Trust has worked closely with health experts to develop a list of key messages, which will form the backbone of the campaign.

She added the campaign will focus on messages around awareness, prevention, reduction of stigma and around self-care and caring for one’s loved ones.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir, TV host Sidra Iqbal, actress and mental health ambassador for British Asian Trust Sanam Saeed shared their experiences during a panel session moderated by host Abdullah Sultan.

Azhar Abbas, Geo News managing director, Zafar Masud, president and corporate leader of the Bank of Punjab (who survived the PIA plane crash in 2020), Dr Taha Sabri, founder and COO, Taskeen, spoke during a panel session moderated by Sanaa Ahmed.