Depression affects 322 million

The World Health Organization or WHO has disclosed here that about 322 million people are being affected by depression around the world. The WHO has therefore suggested that the depression needs serious attention by key stakeholders before it gets worse.

Addressing the regular press briefing at the Ministry of Information on Capitol Hill on Thursday, 6 April, the Advisor to WHO Country Representative Mr. Peter Clement said close to 30 million people have suffered from depression in the African region.

He warned that if nothing is done to find remedy to such problem, more people could continue to suffer from depression. The WHO says the issue of depression does not only affect children, but it rather affects people of all ages.

It has warned that depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. “We are all at risk, it affects people in all countries. Stigma, and fear of social isolation are significant barriers to seeking help; there is an urgent need to prevent and treat those affected by this serious and complex mental health condition”, Mr. Clement says.

Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francis Kateh said depression is very critical to Liberians on grounds that the calculation that was done for Liberia has to be increased due to the civil war and the recent deadly Ebola outbreak.

Dr. Kateh said a rough calculation will have over 1.5 million Liberians that are going through some depressive issues, noting that the the civil war and the Ebola crisis were two major incidents that have contributed to the increase of that number.

He argued that Liberians may not take this into consideration until it begins to have an impact on the citizens to the extent where they become unable to do their regular things.

By Lewis S. Teh-Editing by Winston W. Parley