FYI. Mental Health advocacy campaign. Please distribute widely.
The survey monkey takes one minute.
Cheers
P

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*From:* The World Federation for Mental Health [mailto:
[log in to unmask]]
*Sent:* Monday, May 02, 2011 7:41 PM
*To:* [log in to unmask]
*Subject:* World Federation for Mental Health's Great Push for Mental Health

 *URGENT SIGN UP!! *

*GREAT PUSH FOR MENTAL HEALTH*

*The time has come to show the world our combined strength in the fight to
make mental health a global priority!*

*WE URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP TO INFLUENCE THE*

*UN SPECIAL SESSION ON NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES *

 *WFMH, founded in 1948 and in consultative status with the United Nations,
is partnering with the Movement for Global Mental Health to make a serious
effort to have governments take notice of mental health, our first advocacy
campaign under the "WFMH Great Push for Mental Health Initiative."*

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I write to you today with great urgency, as an advocate for good mental
health programs, asking you to lend your name and support to our first
advocacy campaign under the *Great Push for Mental Health** Initiative*. We
are seeking your help to ensure that *mental health and neuropsychiatric
diseases are not left out of resolutions that will be developed at the UN
(United Nations) Special Session of Non-communicable Diseases, September
2011.    *

You may already have received an e-mail from WFMH Secretary General Vijay
Ganju, this is to back up Dr Ganju's e-mail to try to ensure your reply.

We need your support for this campaign, not only because it is imperative
that we make an impact on the NCD Committee, but also because we need to
generate a network of *People Power* to support the WFMH Great Push for
Mental Health Initiative, which will be the guiding force for the
Federation’s future campaigns and programs.  We need the impact of numbers.


If we are successful in changing this UN agenda, governments will be
obligated to act on these issues that we so strongly support.  This UN
Committee sets the goals, tasks and indicators for governments and is
therefore crucial for advancing mental health with governments across the
world.  We are told that mental health/mental illness, neuropsychiatric
disease and dementia are not currently included on the list of
non-communicable diseases being discussed at this meeting. As stated in the
Lancet ‘this is a once in a generation opportunity to put chronic diseases
on the global and national agendas’.   We are determined to do everything in
our power to see that mental illness be included with cancer, diabetes,
cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases.   We have strong support at
a high level but to back that up we need "*People Power"* to galvanize that
support.  We need you to sign on to the campaign and be counted with us.  If
you have already signed on to this campaign please do not respond again.The
Great Push for Mental Health is an advocacy initiative of the WFMH in
strategic alliance with the Movement for Global Mental Health.  Over the
next four years the WFMH will use the Great Push for Mental Health as its
strategic plan.  The Initiative has four key components - UNITY, VISIBILITY,
RIGHTS, and RECOVERY and the WFMH will carry out programs within each of
those components. You can find out more about it briefly below and on our
website (www.wfmh.org).

This campaign is the first active campaign and second initiative under the
initial component, that of “Unity."  We must demonstrate that we stand
together on fundamental mental health issues and we aim to carry mental
health to the top of the health agendas of governments that have generally
failed to act on the many "world" reports and the Lancet Call for Action.

We want governments to see the importance of mental health not only for the
millions of people who still go untreated but also for the economies of
countries, individual poverty and lack of well-being.

*We need your support to change this.*

When you sign on to this campaign you will join thousands of other concerned
advocates and our collective voice will bring mental health into the
spotlight and there will be no choice but to recognize the needs and wants
of the people!

For your convenience we have organised a special sign up form to help us
keep track of those who wish to support this campaign.

*Please indicate your support by completing the short Support Global Mental
Health Action Form located at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/wfmhgp. *  It
takes so little time compared with the influence it could have.

Thank you for your help! This is the most efficient way to generate *People
Power* and press for reform – we hope you will spread the news to others via
your chapters, members, colleagues and on your websites and Facebook page
and encourage them to sign up too.  Please cascade this e-mail to as many
people and organisations as you can. The more people the greater the power!


For those who sign up, we will keep you informed of our progress so that we
can continue to unify each step of the way.  If you have any questions,
please contact us at [log in to unmask] <http://sqmail/images/blank.png>.


Sincerely yours,

John Copeland, MD ScD

Immediate Past President, WFMH
Chairman, WFMH Great Push for Mental Health
in strategic alliance with the Movement for Global Mental Health

*Summary of information on the Great Push for Mental Health *

*UNITY       -       VISIBILITY       -       RIGHTS       -       RECOVERY*

*The WFMH Great Push for Mental Health in strategic alliance with the
Movement for Global Mental Health *

In review of current global needs, the WFMH created a new strategic plan of
global action – a campaign that will involve, unite, empower and create
change in communities and minds all over the world.

To meet these challenges, we plan to create new public awareness campaigns
(such as marches, surveys, media campaigns, educational material, petitions
to governments and other NGOs, trainings, research and more ) to bring
people together in a united and empowering way to ensure that we have a
voice.

Some of our proposals:

*UNITY*: campaigning for the NCD issue, tackling ministers of health
bringing People Power to bear-disproving perceived disunity by achieving
consensus on basic mental health issues which all can support, over 95% of
organisations and individuals who replied supported all 10 principles of the
WFMH-by convening a Mental Health Summit with MGMH to address the United
Nations and governments on their obligations for mental health and mental
illness, "what the people want!"

*VISIBILITY*: we are encouraging Street parties, rallies, marches around the
world on World Mental Health Day (WFMH sets the theme) to make the cause for
mental health visible to governments and administrators.

*RIGHTS*: we shall be convening lawyers, professionals, consumers and
involved organisations to decide what is best done about abuse of the
mentally ill around the world.

*RECOVERY*: what does it mean? A proposed conference to define the term and
activities and to promote new computer based methods already in use in
countries in Europe, Africa and Asia for diagnosis and treatment to skill
mental health primary and secondary care workers to overcome the treatment
gap, to bring the millions at present not treated into care.




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