UN calls for more to be done to protect mental health at work

The United Nations on Wednesday urged more to do to protect mental health in the workplace and made new recommendations to reduce stress.

The two United Nations agencies responsible for health and labor respectively, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), have published a series of guidelines for the prevention and protection of mental health risks.

Psychological distress is costly to those who suffer from it and to society, and it is estimated that 12 billion days of work are lost each year due to depression and anxiety, valued at nearly $1 trillion, according to the World Health Organization and the World Health Organization. .

“It is time to focus on the harmful effects that business can have on our mental health,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a joint statement.

“An individual’s well-being is reason enough to act, but poor mental health can also have a debilitating effect on a person’s performance and productivity,” he adds.

The World Health Organization warned in June that nearly a billion people worldwide had a mental disorder before the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the situation.

One in six adults of working age suffers from a mental disorder, according to the World Health Organization, an “alarming number”, according to Manal Azzi, head of the ILO’s occupational safety and health team.

One recommendation is to train managers to avoid stressful work environments and respond to workers at risk.

“We need to invest in creating a preventive culture around mental health at work, reforming the work environment to end stigma and social exclusion, and ensuring employees with mental health conditions feel protected and supported,” ILO President Guy Ryder said in the statement. .

Line: France Press agency