The Mental Health Foundation today welcomes an important new Government initiative for the nation’s health and urged the next Prime Minister to maintain the momentum towards preventing mental health problems.
Commenting on the publication of the consultative paper Advancing our Health: Prevention in the 2020s, Dr. Antonis Kousoulis, the charity’s Director of England and Wales, said: “Our health service won’t cope with future demand for mental health services unless we also work to prevent mental health problems, so we enthusiastically welcome this new consultation. And we urge the next Prime Minister to maintain the momentum that it represents, towards more action to protect people’s mental health.
“We especially welcome the Government’s recognition that we need to address the risk factors for poor mental health - and take more action to protect it. The consultation’s acknowledgement that the conditions and circumstances in which we’re born and live have a major bearing on our mental health is the right starting point for planning to prevent mental health problems and promote wellbeing.
“We have been consistently advocating for this approach for 70 years. We look forward to working with the new government to build on these proposals during the consultation period.”