Mental health is not an individual issue, but a common responsibility for the community. This was stated at a roundtable organized by the Ministry of Health on the occasion of Mental Health Awareness Week, KosovaPress reports.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Naim Bardiqi, emphasized that the Ministry has worked to improve the quality of life for people with mental disorders.
Bardiqi stated that seven clinical guidelines have been developed, a draft law on mental health has been prepared, as well as the strategic plan for mental health for 2025–2030."This year’s awareness week theme is community. The aim is to celebrate the power and importance of community — being part of a safe and positive community is vital for our mental health and well-being. Mental health is a topic that affects each of us; it is not something that should be seen and treated as an individual issue. Mental health must be seen as a community responsibility... The Ministry of Health remains committed to improving the quality of life for people with mental disorders. To reduce the stigma around mental health, we have taken all necessary actions to increase the importance of mental health, to ensure equal and non-discriminatory treatment of individuals with mental disorders, in line with the respect for physical integrity and human dignity," he said.
The Director of the Psychiatry Clinic, Faton Kutllovci, expressed that work is ongoing to specialize the clinic. He said this mental health awareness week should be used to combat the stigma against people facing these issues. "Let us use this awareness week to come together and fight stigma, because there is nothing more powerful than a community that listens, supports, and does not judge. Mental health is not an individual issue, it is an issue for all of us... We have worked to specialize the clinic, we have established a unit for acute psychotic disorders, and added beds in the child and adolescent psychiatry department. We have also increased capacity in the addiction treatment unit. Now, under the direction of the Ministry of Health, a commission has been established that is working on drafting the appropriate strategy to further expand the capacities of the addiction treatment unit, and this is currently in process," Kutllovci emphasized.May 13 to May 19 is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Week.
