Experts push for multi-layered mental health solutions

Mental health is a multifaceted issue that needs to be addressed at every echelon of society and across all walks of professional and communal life, underscored experts at Aga Khan University Hospital's (AKUH) Brain and Mind conference on Wednesday.

The two-day conference featured discussions on a variety of subjects, from the effects of climate change on mental health and suicidality to the ways mental health practices can be integrated into policy and primary health care. Around 74 moderators, panellists and local and international speakers from Kenya, America, the United Kingdom and more shared their insights.

Panellists covered topics regarding the brain-gut connection, non-communicable diseases, the mental health journeys of young migrants, digital mental health, suicide prevention, climate change and mental health, brain ageing and dementia, and the importance of contextualising mental health outcomes.

On Wednesday, Founding Director of the Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) Dr Zul Merali invited participants and audience members to "bring not just our expertise, but our humanity," emphasising the need to treat mental health as a multifaceted problem.

Former state minister of health Dr Zafar Mirza spoke about the realities of implementing a mental health plan, explaining that it is impossible to separate economic hardships from psychological suffering. "The issue of our country is wealth inequality, and 78 years of such inequality...Inequity in healthcare haunts us," he said, referring to the vast number of Pakistanis living on the poverty line. Most of the money in healthcare goes to tertiary care, not primary care, which benefits the poor the most, he noted.

He emphasised the need for implementing robust healthcare models. "We already have essential packages of services, but nobody has implemented them." He argued that before we can talk about mental health in our healthcare systems, we must first provide basic healthcare needs for all and integrate mental health into those essential services.

Earlier, National Adviser on Mental Health Dr Asma Humayun opened the conference today underscoring the challenges and opportunities when prioritising mental healthcare in Pakistan. She spoke on the current status of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) model she had been working on, detailing the journey of its formation and implementation in different phases from 2021 to 2025. "Pakistan is one of the few countries able to incorporate mental health into the agenda."

She said that a robust MHPSS model needs to be multi-layered and implemented as such, as single-tier implementations of mental healthcare solutions (only addressing one facet of policy or society) do not work. "This is a comprehensive model; we think that this will help us build the system that is missing both at the level of communities and primary care."

CEO of Tech4Life Enterprises Dr Shariq Khoja spoke about empowering primary mental health workers with digital tools, explaining that most people in Pakistan possess smartphones, which would allow them to utilise digital apps and AI-powered tools to assist in providing mental health services quickly.