Mep Alliance for Mental Health
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MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH THE EU AND MENTAL HEALTH – PRIORITIES AND POSSIBILITIES FOR ACTION REPORT 16 October 2019 European Parliament, Brussels www.gamian.eu MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH MEETING AGENDA 16 October 2019 European Parliament WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION Tomas Zdechovsky MEP Maria Walsh MEP 14:00 - 14:15 Hilkka Karkkainen, GAMIAN-Europe THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION John F Ryan, European Commission, DG SANTE AND MENTAL HEALTH ACTIVITIES 14:15 - 14:30 HEARING: STAKEHOLDER Short interventions: Frédéric Destrébecq -European Brain Council PRIORITIES AND THE POTENTIAL Philip Gorwood - European Psychiatric Association FOR EU LEVEL ACTION Koen Lowet - European Federation of Psychologists 14:30 - 15:30 Associations Claudi Bockting - European Association of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Treatment Claudia Marinetti - Mental Health Europe Miia Männikö - EUFAMI Andrea Bilbow - ADHD Europe Owen Miller - Alzheimer Europe Marc Hermans – UEMS Psychiatry Section Nick Morgan – Euro Youth Mental Health Usman Khan – European Patient Forum Eef Verschaeve – OPGanG Hilkka Kärkkäinen - GAMIAN-Europe POLICYMAKER’S MEPs: Tomas Zdechovsky MEP, Maria Walsh MEP, Rory Palmer MEP, Brando Benifei MEP, Alex Agius Saliba MEP, Tomislav Sokol MEP, RESPONSE Stelios Kympouropoulos MEP, Josianne Cutajar MEP, Radka Maxova 14:55 - 15:15 MEP, Juozas Olekas MEP Council of Ministers Pasi Mustonen, Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU AUDIENCE DEBATE: DEFINING THE NEXT STEPS 15:30 - 16:00 CONCLUSIONS AND CLOSE Tomas Zdechovsky MEP Maria Walsh MEP 16:00 - 16:10 Hilkka Karkkainen, GAMIAN-Europe The MEP Alliance is coordinated by GAMIAN-Europe 2 MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION Tomas Zdechovsky MEP opened the meeting, welcoming colleague MEPs, speakers and participants. He stated that this was the first meeting of the MEP Alliance for Mental Health – which was active as the Interest Group on Mental Health, Wellbeing and Brain Disorders in the two previous Parliaments. This group will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and still has the same mission, i.e. to advocate the development of sound EU policies which contribute to prevention of mental ill health and ensure good services, care and empowerment for those affected by mental ill health. Tomas Zdechovsky MEP then announced that 26 MEPs have already agreed to support the Alliance and its work and that MEPs Maria Walsh, Alex Agius Saliba and Rory Palmer have come forward as co-chairs of the Alliance. He warmly thanked all supporters and co-chairs for their interest and commitment and expressed his intention to intensively work with them over the coming years. The panel of co-chairs will be expanded to include MEPs from the other political groups over the coming weeks; this is work in progress. The Alliance will be also deciding on a work programme soon and the information gathered in today’s meeting will serve as input. Tomas Zdechovsky MEP also noted the large number of participants in the room - this means that the importance of good mental health is recognised and that the sector is vibrant. In her opening statement Hilkka Kärkkäinen (GAMIAN-Europe), thanked Tomas Zdechovsky MEP for his continued support and interest. She recalled that GAMIAN-Europe worked with Antonya Parvanova MEP in 2009 to set up the Interest group on Mental Health, Well-being and Brain Disorders. A number of other MEPs joined the Interest Group, but most of them - unfortunately - have not returned to the European Parliament for this term. GAMIAN-Europe is very thankful of their support and commitment. Over the last 10 years the Interest Group met some 35 times on a wide variety of topics and was one of the most active groups in the Parliament. For the current Parliamentary term, it was agreed to change the name of the Group to make it shorter and more dynamic –but its mission and its activities will be the same. Hilkka Kärkkäinen expressed her appreciation for the fact that 26 MEPs have already enlisted as active supporters, with 11 present in the room today. GAMIAN-Europe will continue to coordinate the MEP Alliance, but views it as a platform for all those that want to strengthen the mental health sector and who want to cooperate to amplify its voice. Today’s meeting is a very clear example of this openness, as the ‘hearing’ format provides mental health stakeholders with a platform for speaking their mind, to share ideas and where possible, to align activities and come forward with their views and ideas for action at EU and national levels. 3 MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND MENTAL HEALTH ACTIVITIES Tomas Zdechovsky MEP then gave the floor to John Ryan (European Commission, DG Santé), who underlined that mental health is critical to individual wellbeing, as well as to social and economic participation. According to recent estimates, more than one in six people across EU countries had a mental health issue in 2016. The total costs of mental ill- health are estimated at more than 4% of GDP – or over EUR 600 billion – across the 28 EU countries. The heavy individual, economic and social burdens of mental illness are not inevitable. Many European countries have in place policies and programmes to address mental illness at different ages. However, much more can be done to manage and promote mental health. The European Commission has been quite active on mental health. Since the adoption of the 2005 Green Paper 'Improving the Mental Health of the Population', a number of important initiatives have been carried out, such as the 2008 'European Pact for Mental Health and Wellbeing' and the 2013 EU-funded Joint Action on 'Mental Health and Wellbeing'. These actions have paved the way to build solid networks of experts, civil society, and policy makers who contributed to the development of the 'European Framework for Action on Mental Health and Wellbeing', agreed in 2016. To implement the 'Framework’ the Commission created the EU Compass for Mental Health, a cross-cutting' data base of policies and good practices, which has collected examples of good practices. The Commission continues to support Member States in this task through the Steering Group on Promotion and Prevention and Management of non-Communicable Diseases, which has set mental health as a priority for the identification of best practices and implementable research for 2019. The best practices presented during the marketplace, which are now available on the webpage of the Steering Group, have address depression, suicide prevention, mental health care delivery systems, stigma, mental health and well-being at work, community treatment, and mental health in children. EU countries will indicate before the end of October which of these practices are interested in implementing or scaling-up, and the Commission then will identify the best ways to support the implementation of these policies, using all available instruments at the Commission's disposal. In this way the activities of the Steering Group will facilitate the implementation of evidence-based best practices by EU countries, in order to ensure that the most up-to-date findings and knowledge are being put into practice according to the needs and priorities expressed by the Member States. 4 MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH The Steering Group's work will be supported by online resources on health promotion and the prevention of non-communicable diseases. A special challenge concerns the mental health and well-being in children and adolescents as 50% of mental health disorders begin at a young age and during adolescence. It also needs to be recognised that mental health and well-being are cross-cutting issues that are dealt with by other sectors – including education, culture, transport, and communication technologies. The latter presents opportunities for children, but also risks to their wellbeing, development and mental health. The Commission is also committed to addressing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and activities in this area will follow the same process under the Steering Group on Promotion and Prevention of non-communicable diseases. Tomas Zdechovsky MEP thanked John Ryan and invited him to stay in touch over the coming 5 years; the MEP Alliance for Mental health will be actively pushing for EU-level action and a greater commitment on mental health. Maria Walsh MEP took over the chair and asked John Ryan for the best way to convince the Commission to put in place a European Year of Good Mental Health. John Ryan stated that several European Years have already addressed health themes; in addition, the Commission organises awareness weeks with respect to health issues (e.g. AMR Awareness Week, planned for November). This is being organised in cooperation with the WHO. Moreover, the WHO has agreed mental health action plans that will come to an end in 2020; it could be interesting to work with this body on an awareness activity, as mental health is not only a European challenge. Responding to other questions, John Ryan agreed that risk assessment of the impact of technology would be a useful exercise. Participants were also invited to comment on the multi-annual strategic workplan for Horizon Europe, which is currently under consultation. Some 6000 responses have been received so far. He also advised participants to join the Health Policy Platform, which is the place where stakeholders meet and plan cooperation on certain cross-cutting issues and bring together ideas, which can then be taken forward in discussions with the Commission. 5 MEP ALLIANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH HEARING: STAKEHOLDER PRIORITIES AND ANDTHE POTENTIAL FOR EU LEVEL ACTION Fred Destrébecq – European Brain Council Mission: promote brain research with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of the estimated 179 million Europeans living with brain conditions, mental and neurological alike. EBC’s first priority is to make brain research – both in terms of neurology as well as in terms of mental health - a priority for the EU research agenda.