The WHO Mental Health Forum 2021 Report
On 11-12 October 2021, the WHO held the annual Mental Health Forum with the theme “Time to Act: transforming mental health systems, doing more and better”. The 2021 Forum focused on how to create better opportunities and systems to respond to a growing demand for mental health services around the world. The Forum provided an opportunity to bring together diverse stakeholders working on mental health-related issues to exchange ideas, collaborate and learn from each other. The discussions reflected the urgent need to act in order to make mental health a core area of renewed investment during and beyond the pandemic as well as to develop and strengthen comprehensive mental health services and psychosocial support as part of universal health coverage. The special attention was paid to improving understanding of mental health conditions and the needs of vulnerable populations and scaling up the use of innovative technologies.