A quick overview below (which is also publicly available on EuHealth webpage).

 

• Policies and services addressing mental health are the responsibility of individual EU countries. However, the European Commission has been supporting efforts in the field of mental health for more than 15 years, with each activity building on the results and learning of the previous one.

 

• Specifically on suicide, there is an EU funded ImpleMENTAL Joint Action that is rolling out two good practices, including the Austrian suicide prevention programme, to other EU countries (21 countries, €5.4 million of EU funds)

Health Programme DataBase – European Commission (europa.eu)

 

• Most comprehensively, in December 2021, the Commission presented it’s Healthier together – EU NCD Initiative which aims to improve citizens’ health and well-being by reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). ‘Mental health and neurological disorders’ forms one of five key strands addressed by this initiative. Following a co-creation process with EU countries and stakeholders, the initiative supports the implementation of high-impact actions across the entire spectrum from encouraging well-being and proactive prevention through to social inclusion of people with long-term conditions. The initiative’s work on mental health will cluster around four priority areas and will continue until 2027, aiming at:

• Supporting favourable conditions for mental health and increasing resilience, implementing mental-health-in-all policies
• Promoting mental well-being and preventing mental health disorders
• Improving timely and equitable access to high quality mental health services
• Protecting rights, enhancing social inclusion, and tackling stigma associated with mental health problems

• The European Commission is continuing to Ukraine with all means at its disposal. In terms of mental health support, this includes a call for 3 million EUR for stakeholders to support the mental health of displaced people from Ukraine and a collaboration with IFRC. The latter aims to provide quality and timely psychological first aid to people affected by Ukraine crisis in impacted countries and is being implemented in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, as well as Ukraine.

• Lastly, the European Commission set up a dedicated network space on its Health Policy Platform for health and social stakeholder organisations to exchange specific mental health practice and knowledge related to COVID-19.