‘Kihineh?’- The National Mental Health Communications Strategy & Campaign Launches

On Monday, The Government of the Maldives and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly inaugurated the National Mental Health Communications Strategy and Campaign. The strategy and campaign were launched by the President of the Maldives, His Excellency Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at a ceremony held in Dharubaaruge. The ‘Kihineh?’ campaign and strategy would be implemented across all Government institutions, private sector, civil society, UNICEF and all partners.

A deeply rooted public health concern in the Maldives, deteriorating mental health can be attributed to many issues, particularly economic and societal problems. Improving the mental well-being of all Maldivians is included in the Government’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP) 2019-2023 and its themes are echoed in the post-COVID-19 pandemic National Resilience and Recovery Plan 2019-2023.Furthermore, strengthening mental health and psychosocial support services is a fundamental priority of the UN and UNICEF as well.

Speaking at the ceremony, the President emphasized the importance of early identification of mental health problems and starting treatment at an early stage. He further elaborated that the ‘Kihineh?’ campaign would help dismantle perceptions and negative attitudes towards mental health by promoting positive social and behavioural changes.

The UNICEF Maldives Representative, Mr. Paulo Sassarao commented “Children and young people also report psychosocial distress that can disrupt their lives, health, learning and opportunities. Prevention is a key first step towards building a psychologically resilient, more compassionate future generation”.

The National Mental Health Strategy hopes to achieve two main objectives through its implementation. This is:
1.Strengthen individual resilience and build internal coping through emotion regulation, holistic self-care and compassion.
2.Reduce stigmatization of mental health issues and people with mental health issues, through promoting prosocial behaviour and building community resilience to create a compassionate and nurturing environment for all.

The Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem remarked “The need for mental health services and psychosocial support overtakes the current services available within the system. Therefore, promoting sustainable methods of selfcare when dealing with mental health stressors, a willingness to make transformative changes to ones’ lifestyle, and practicing compassion and empathy when engaging with one another is key to improving ones’ mental health and wellbeing."