There is a growing concern about the absence of mental health from major health and development declarations, including the Millennium Development Goals and the Declaration of the UN High Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases.  Many countries believe that the time has come for the global health community to adequately address mental health issues; some stakeholders even see the need for an ad hoc UN Summit on mental health in the next three to five years.

The Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform’s main goal is to become a key stakeholder in the Global Mental Health community through a number of initiatives supporting the global movement for a UN Summit on Mental Health.

To attain this goal, it will provide:

• A coherent contribution to the WHO effort to reduce the treatment gap and scale up mental health services in low and middle income countries
• An evidence based contribution to innovative mental health care delivery
• Practical guidance for improving mental health care services in low and middle income countries
• An independent contribution to the promotion of human rights of people with mental disabilities