Argentina's World Health Day main celebration, "Addressing the disease from a healthy citizenship," took place at the National Foreign Service Institute. Local and international authorities as well as civil society representatives participated in the event.
Among the objectives pursued were: raising awareness about the impact of depression, describing different perspectives and approaches to prevention and treatment, and sharing advances in the subject.
The National Minister of Health, Jorge Lemus, participated in the opening panel together with PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina, Maureen Birmingham; the National Director of Mental Health and Addictions, Andrew Blake; Ambassador Pedro Villagra Delgado, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Fernando Lorenzo, General Coordinator of the Civil Society Consultative Council.
"All preventive activities we are carrying out are multidimensional because depression has economic, social and educational roots," explained Lemus. "But the first step in depression treatment is to talk about it. There are people who die with depression and people who die from depression. You mustn't suffer from depression and not tell anyone because one of the main problems is silence."
PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina said that "7 out of 10 people with depression in the Americas do not receive the treatment they need. Some of the main barriers are prejudice, discrimination and the stigma associated with mental disease." For her part, Mercedes Jones, President of the Social Sector Forum, highlighted the need for a paradigm shift aimed at "making us all feel responsible for health."
A special program to reflect on depression was broadcast on April 4 and 7 by Radio La Colifata, managed by users and former users of the Borda Neuropsychiatric Hospital. Sebastián Laspiur, PAHO/WHO national consultant on noncommunicable diseases, participated in the program.
To access an article of PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina, published in Spanish by the National News Agency (Télam), please visit: http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201704/184972-salud-prevencion-opinion.html
