The Authorities of Antigua and Barbuda, in partnership with the Pan American Well being Group (PAHO), will co-host a high-level occasion titled “Uniting the Americas for Mental Health: From Commitment to Action” on June 25, 2025. The gathering is scheduled as an official facet occasion of the fifty fifth Common Session of the Group of American States (OAS) Common Meeting.
Set to happen in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, the occasion will carry collectively Ministers of International Affairs from throughout the hemisphere for a strategic dialogue geared toward reinforcing regional management on psychological well being. It’ll even be livestreamed by way of the OAS media heart to permit broader participation.
In accordance with organizers, the first objectives of the session embrace leveraging regional management on psychological well being within the lead-up to the Fourth United Nations Excessive-Degree Assembly on Noncommunicable Ailments (NCDs) and Psychological Well being and Properly-being, figuring out regional achievements and ongoing challenges, and reaffirming priorities for regional collaboration on psychological well being.
The session will probably be performed in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, with simultaneous translation accessible in all 4 languages. It’ll start at 1:00 p.m. (EDT/AST), aligning with the native time in St. John’s and Washington, D.C.
The occasion comes at a time when the Americas are going through a deepening psychological well being disaster. Over 160 million folks within the area reside with a psychological dysfunction, most with out entry to satisfactory care. Suicide claims greater than 100,000 lives annually within the hemisphere, underscoring the urgency of coordinated motion.
Organizers stress that psychological well being isn’t just a well being sector challenge however a serious financial and growth problem. The worldwide price of untreated psychological issues is projected to succeed in $16 trillion by 2030. Within the Americas, poor psychological well being has been linked to decreased productiveness, unemployment, decrease academic outcomes, poverty, homelessness, and incarceration.
Regional crises—starting from rising violence and substance abuse to large-scale migration and pure disasters—have solely intensified the pressure on psychological well being techniques.
With world leaders set to convene on the United Nations Common Meeting this September to undertake a declaration on NCDs and psychological well being, the June 25 facet occasion is seen as a important alternative for the Americas to form the worldwide psychological well being agenda.
Extra data and the livestream might be accessed through the OAS Media Middle or PAHO’s web site.
