UN-Geneva Representative Odile Frank was speaker on a session that highlighted the impact of our environments – and corporate interests – on mental health.
On May 20, UN-Geneva Representative Odile Frank, ScD, participated in a panel at the World Health Assembly organized by the Global Mental Health Action Network and the World Federation of Public Health Associations addressing The Social and Commercial Determinants of Mental Health.
Speakers explained that mental health is profoundly shaped by the circumstances in which we are born, grow up, work, live and age. To create a society where everybody can thrive, we need the right building blocks in place such as stable jobs, good pay, quality housing, good education, and adequate protection from environmental harms to health.
Dr. Frank’s presentation emphasized: the deleterious impact of poverty on psychological well-being and the means to prevent it; the harmful effects of the compartmentalized knowledge structures; and reflections on the balance between empathy and wealth maximization in the multilateral development agenda.