Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director for Southeast Asia
World Mental Health Day, celebrated every year on October 10, aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage efforts to support people living with mental health problems. This was first observed in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health.
This year’s theme is a reminder of the importance of mental health in the workplace. A safe and healthy working environment acts as a protective factor for mental health. Unhealthy conditions (such as exposure to risks such as stigma, discrimination, and harassment) can affect mental health.
As well as the impact on individuals and their families, poor mental health can lead to poor performance, absenteeism and increased turnover. Depression and anxiety alone cost approximately 12 billion working days per year and cost the global economy approximately $1 trillion annually.
We spend around a third of our lives at work, but the importance of mental health in the workplace is often overlooked. For many of us, work is a significant source of stress, anxiety, and pressure. Still, the workplace is where we spend most of our time, so the positive changes created there can make a big difference in our lives.
Mental and psychosocial health and well-being is one of the cornerstones of the Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience, as recognized and mandated by Member States. Therefore, in line with our roadmap, we recently announced SEARO Care. This is a groundbreaking initiative to improve the mental health and wellbeing of everyone working in our regional and national offices. Once SEARO Care is piloted and officially launched, we hope it will serve as a case study and model for other businesses and organizations in the region.
SEARO Care’s two main pillars are improving the working environment in all our offices and protecting and promoting the mental health of all our colleagues.
Improving the working environment includes both the physical and psychological environment in which co-workers work. This includes providing social areas, ergonomic office equipment, exercise facilities, and more. Initiatives to promote mental health include manager training on mental health, mindfulness workshops, and surveys. Direct interventions to protect mental health include counseling services, referral pathways, peer advisory networks, and other related initiatives.
We know that successful SEARO Care creates a supportive environment where employees feel valued, respected and valued. This increases job satisfaction, reduces stress levels, and improves the overall happiness of employees. These changes should foster a positive organizational culture characterized by trust, open communication, and mutual respect. We hope this will enable staff to adapt to change and overcome challenges effectively, as well as reduce absenteeism and presence. This alone should encourage collaboration and innovation, and help us collectively work towards our regional goals.
This World Mental Health Day, we are delighted and proud that our regional offices are leading the way in becoming the change we want to see. We will raise awareness across the region about the importance of mental health in the workplace and take concrete steps to improve our organizational culture and the mental health of the entire WHO SEAR family.
We believe that our experience at SEARO Care provides businesses, institutions and organizations across Southeast Asia with a blueprint to improve the psychological environment at work and the mental health of all staff and colleagues. This cultural shift in itself could have a transformative impact across our region.
This World Mental Health Day, we are delighted that SEARO is leading concrete actions to recognize the importance of mental health in the workplace. I encourage others to do the same.
