Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE).- The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, believes that mental health problems are “a silenced epidemic exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic.”
Faced with this situation, the Government has gone “from silence to debate, and from debate to action”, and has updated, for example, the Mental Health Strategy, something that has not been done for twelve years, said the minister.
Likewise, an action plan with one hundred million euros has been launched, charged to the General State Budget, to undertake specific actions, such as the 024 telephone number, which anyone who is going through a critical emotional or mental moment can resort to.
Since the 024 telephone was launched on April 10 of last year, more than 80,000 calls have been answered, with many referrals to emergency services, Darias reported.
The medical specialty of Infant and Childhood Psychiatry has also been created, which has included the latest MIR specialization offer.
“It is very important to eliminate the stigma and taboo that accompanies mental illness,” said Darias.
Mental health is “the great challenge of the present and the future, and it will be very important in the Spanish Presidency of Europe from July 1”, said the minister in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where this Saturday she attended the inauguration of the first sign that recognizes the capital as a “Child-Friendly City”, a seal awarded by Unicef.
It is “an emotional act that fills me with pride”, he said, since it means placing childhood at the center of public policies, for comprehensive development, focused on both emotional and mental well-being as well as physical. EFE
