Mental health research planned

Islamabad : Mishal Pakistan, a country partner institute of the Future of Economic Progress System Initiative of the World Economic Forum, has announced that it will conduct a longitudinal study to measure the state of mental health in Pakistan and beyond.

The announcement comes on the World Mental Health Day marked on Saturday with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health.

Neuropsychiatric disorders in Pakistan make up the 11.9 percent of the global diseases while only 2.62 percent of the GDP is spent on health, and data on incidents related to suicide remains unavailable. Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan Amir Jahangir said the research study would look into the psychological health of Pakistan to assess the impact of violence as a result of the war on terror.

"The research initiative focuses on assessing the impact of terrorism on a society’s mental wellbeing and how it effects the individuals belonging to these respective communities." He said mental Health was one of the most ignored areas of research in Pakistan, while the nation was exposed to multiple challenges the policy makers need the said research data for public policy design and allocation of appropriate resources.