Over 300 million people are affected by depression - WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says about 322 million people around the world are affected by depression, and need serious collaborative support from stakeholders to address the growing health challenge.  

Country Representative of WHO, Dr Owen Kaluwa, who revealed this at the launch of this year’s World Health Day in Accra, said depression affects people of all ages, from all walks of life and in all countries.  

He also said depression currently affects close to 30 million people from the African Region, meaning that everyone is at risk, due to the numerous negative circumstances that people face daily in their lives, which makes them sad and miserable from time to time.  

New estimates of depression show an increase by 18.4 per cent between 2005 and 2015, with more than 80 percent of the affected, living in low and middle-income countries.  

The celebrations, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Health and the Mental Health Authority in collaboration with the WHO focused on the topic: “Depression-Let’s Talk”. 

It aims at drawing attention to the global burden of the common mental health disorder, with the objective of ensuring that more people with depression in all countries seek and get help.

SOURCE: joynews