Over 200 delegates, including 80 from abroad, will attend a three-day International symposium, starting from January 7 here, on 'Evidences in Global Mental Health'.
T P Sreenivasan, Vice Chairman and Executive Head of the Kerala State Higher Education Council will be the chief guest of the event which will be held at the Rajagiri College of social sciences.
People with mental disorders are some of the most neglected people in the world. In many communities, mental illness is not considered a real medical condition, but viewed as a weakness of character or as a punishment for immoral behaviour, a release from the college said.
Between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent of all adults suffer from a chronic, severe MNS (Mental Neurological and substance) disorder.
According to WHO, Mental, neurological and substance usedisorders are common in all regions of the world, affecting every community and age-group across all income countries.
While 14 per cent of the global burden of disease is attributed to these disorders, most of the affected people, 75 per cent in many low income countries, do not have access to the treatment they need.
