Younis Khan offers to spread awareness of mental health issues

Former Test cricketer and skipper Younis Khan has called for creating awareness about mental health issues among the people in Pakistan and offered his services to highlight issues of mental health.

“Mental illnesses are mostly ignored as the majority of people in Pakistan are not aware of their signs and symptoms. There is a need to create awareness about psychiatric disorders so people could seek help from trained and qualified psychiatrists,” he said while addressing a ceremony at the Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society (JPPS) office.

World Psychiatric Association (WPA) President Prof Dr Afzal Javed, former PPS president Prof Dr Nasar Khan, Philippines Honourary Consul General in Karachi Dr Imran Yousuf Muhammad, and prominent psychiatrists Prof Wajid A Akhunzada, Prof Nadeem Iqbal and Dr Majid Ali Abidi were also present at the event.

The former cricketer and WPA president inaugurated the publication office of the JPPS and hoped that the journal would facilitate the growth of mental health research and publication in Pakistan and contribute to the diverse scientific global talent pool.

“Mental health is important for everyone. To become a better and healthier human, we must be considerate and tolerant to make life easier for one another,” Khan highlighted and reiterated his devotion to the objective as the mental health ambassador.

While praising Editor-in-Chief JPPS Prof Iqbal Afridi, Dr Javed said that Afridi and his team had made a serious effort and taken a huge step in the history of psychiatry in Pakistan. With a growing number of mental health professionals in Pakistan, the importance of documenting and sharing their works via scientific media was fundamental, he added.

He maintained that the PPS was fortunate to have chosen Prof Afridi to lead the journal given his multi-institutional experience, adding that he would hopefully be motivating young researchers, especially postgraduates, across the country and in South Asian countries to carry out multi-centered studies to improve the research impact.

The WPA president also emphasised the need for collaboration of scientific publications of South Asian countries, which would further glorify the ranking of the JPPS. Being the international adviser on the publication, he also pledged to publicise the journal internationally, both for a greater readership and even wider authorship.

Prof Afridi vowed to promote research in the area of mental health in Pakistan and hoped that quality studies, research and data would be published in the journal to help in making psychiatric treatment available for most of the people in the country.