“Our minds, our rights” is the slogan of World Mental Health Day 2023

On October 10, World Mental Health Day is celebrated at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and with the support of WHO. This day is an opportunity to draw additional attention to the importance and need of protecting the mental health of every person. This is also a good occasion to express gratitude to doctors – psychiatrists, psychotherapists, substance abuse specialists, gerontologists – for their hard work and effort to preserve the mental health of both each patient and our society as a whole. The search for new therapeutic solutions in the field of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), a key link in human mental health, is a priority for NovaMedica as well.

World Mental Health Day was established by the World Federation for Mental Health in 1992, and is annually marked by a global information campaign aimed at drawing attention to specific aspects of mental health. This year’s campaign theme, “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right”, provides an opportunity for people and communities to unite to raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental health as a universal right.

Russia joined this movement in 2002 at the initiative of Tatyana Dmitrieva, an academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, who was the chief psychiatrist of the Russian Ministry of Health from 1996 to 1998.

Mental health is fundamental to every person’s ability to live a good and meaningful life. It allows us to overcome problems, learn, connect with friends and loved ones, grow and succeed throughout our lives. Mental health is not simply the absence of a mental disease. It is a state of comprehensive well-being – in nervous system, mind and body – that provides resources for coping with any difficulty in life.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says in its materials that the importance of the problem of mental health in the world is growing. Mental diseases are currently one of the primary causes of disability. Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents suffer from mental disorders, with suicide being the second leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29. About one in five people in post-conflict situations suffer from a mental disease.^[1]

That is why this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign aims to highlight the critical importance of ensuring that everyone has access to mental health support and resources. This includes the right to protection from risks in this area, the right to help and support, to involvement in society and to a good life on the back of such diagnoses.

One of the important elements that is necessary for ensuring such rights is the ability to receive high-quality medical care and access to effective drugs. Since 2018, NovaMedica has identified the development of new products for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system, which is a key link in the therapy of mental diseases, as its main priority in order to comprehensively achieve the objectives of providing Russian patients with innovative products.

In the last two years alone, the company has registered new own-development drugs to combat insomnia (Levroso^® Long), treat pain (Difendum^®), migraines (Relonova^®) and dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease (Mioreol^®). Some of them have already entered the market and earned recognition from experts, while others are being prepared for launch in the near future. Besides that, the company is successfully promoting in the Russian market its partner drug Seroquel for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic episodes in bipolar disorder.

We invite everyone interested to join this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, spread awareness about the importance of mental health care and take this opportunity to thank doctors, researchers and pharmacists specializing in this field for their professionalism and hard work.

Useful links:

1. WHO. October 10 - World Mental Health Day
2. Russian Society of Psychiatrists
3. WHO. Mental health in emergencies
4. WHO. Mental health of adolescents
5. Web site of the World Federation for Mental Health

Sources:

[1] – Information bulletin on Mental Health. Web site of the World Health Organization, 2023 - https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health#tab=tab_