KATHMANDU: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel appealed with everyone to discuss mental health issues and talk about it openly.

Issuing a video message in the context of the ‘Mental Health Awareness Campaign’ run by the government, Minister Kharel, also Spokesperson of the government encouraged everyone to talk about mental health issues with the people close.

“Let’s talk openly about mental health problems. The best antidote to mental health is to speak one’s heart out. Let’s hold an open discussion and discourse on mental health from today,” motivated the Minister.

He argued that by talking about prevention and treatment aspect of mental health issue, it is easier to address this concern which, he stated, was emerging as one of the serious causes for concern especially in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and recent Gen-Z uprising.

Towards this, the Minister called for support from every quarter towards the mental health awareness campaign, cautioning towards the risk of a large chunk Nepal’s population potentially suffering from mental health issue in some form or the other during their lifetime.

He emphasized that utmost importance should be accorded to the mental health sector.

As per the new data released by the World Health Organization in last September, more than a billion people worldwide are living with mental health conditions.

Mental health problems are widespread across every society and age group and remains the second leading cause of long-term disability, reports the WHO.

There is a growing concern for people’s mental well-being in Nepal as well.

In view of such urgency, the Ministry of Health and Population launched ‘Mental Health Awareness Campaign’ from December 10 this year.

The campaign will run through March 14, 2026.

During the campaign, the government seeks to sensitize people about the mental health problems and thereby encouraging them to openly talk about it and seek professional help if need be.

The campaign also seeks to integrate mental health service with primary health service and increase access of mental health service to all citizens.

Furthermore, the drive aims to encourage the culture of open debate and discussion on the mental health problems.