The Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, participated, on Wednesday 22 February, in a dialogue with 15 young Europeans and Ukrainians on the subject of mental health, the latest in a series of policy dialogues organised by the European Commission.
Most of the participants were professionals or volunteers from civil society (Red Cross, Mental Health Europe...). They discussed the increased need for care due to the pandemic and many facets of mental health.
They made several specific proposals: - the need for increased pressure from the EU on Member States to improve their financial support for mental health; - better access to health care for young people with disabilities; - support for young cancer patients; - better inclusion of young people in the labour market; - a European Year of Mental Health; - support for health professionals, LGBTQI+ people and young PhD students as well.
This diversity of themes led the Commissioner to stress the need to include mental health in a horizontal way in European policies.
She presented some existing European initiatives: “Caring for carers”, the Young Cancer Survivors Conference, a support platform for Ukrainians in the Ukrainian language.
Two young Ukrainians highlighted the mental health needs in their country, increased by the consequences of the Russian aggression, but also the difficulty for victims to seek help.
The stigma of mental health problems, which hinders demand for support and care, was particularly highlighted.
Ms Kyriyakides said she was very pleased to have heard from young people. She confirmed that an integrated approach to mental health, “a starting point for action”, is expected to be presented by the European Commission in June (see EUROPE 13021/14 , EUROPE 13045/26). Consultations are ongoing between the Commission’s Health Directorate-General and the Member States and stakeholders to identify best practices.
Responding to a request for a better inclusion of young people in decision-making, the Commissioner said that the assessment of the European Year of Youth (in 2022) would be an opportunity to assess, among other things, the relevance of establishing a “youth test” when developing European policies.
The Commissioner said that she was not convinced that changing the EU treaties to extend EU competences in health was the most appropriate solution. She pointed out that with the Union for Health, some processes are now more centralised at European level in case of public health emergencies.
The commissioner said that mental health would be discussed at a meeting next week with Queen Mathilde of Belgium and that it could be one of the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council in 2024. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)