The MEP Alliance for Mental Health and GAMIAN-Europe are organising a virtual brainstorming workshop, in the aim of addressing a campaign for a dedicated European Year for Mental Health.  

Background to this event is the general and pressing need to ensure awareness – with policymakers, service providers, the general public – of the importance of mental health in all its aspects, ranging from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, care and cure.

The MEP Alliance for Mental Health already briefly raised the need for and potential of such a Year in its meeting in October 2019. Now is the right time to launch an active campaign in order to turn this idea into reality: never before has there been such a concern about mental health and well-being of the population.

The cause of this attention is COVID-19, one of the worst global crises in modern history, with many repercussions on health and health systems, personal well-being, relationships within families as well as on jobs, livelihoods and the economy. This massive impact has helped to open people’s eyes to the importance of mental health.

Main objectives of the workshop:

• To bring together a small group of relevant organisations to have a first discussion on the potential aims, content and strands of action of a European Year for Mental Health;
• To discuss which actions should be taken to best advocate to ensure that such a Year will become a reality; and
• The roles that the various organisations can play in this campaign.

The results of the discussion will serve to prepare a preliminary outline of aims, potential themes, activities and structure of a European Year as well as of an advocacy plan, both of which will then be discussed in a larger meeting of the MEP Alliance early next year.

Alex Agius Saliba MEP                                                                Hilka Kärkkäinen

Estrella Dura Ferrandis MEP                                                     President GAMIAN-Europe

Radka Maxova MEP

Maria Walsh MEP

Tomas Zdechovsky MEP