By Staff Writer
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Jun 25, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne Wednesday said the number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean who die by suicide or live with a mental disorder represents lives overshadowed by despair, potential left unrealized, and families hollowed by grief.
Addressing a forum on mental health in the Americas organised by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Prime Minister Browne said that in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 10 adolescents die by suicide each day,, recalling that in 2021, across the region, 16 million adolescents lived with a mental disorder.
“These figures represent lives overshadowed by despair, potential left unrealized, families hollowed by grief,” Browne told the forum being held under the theme “Uniting the Americas for Mental Health: From Commitment to Action” and is a parallel event to the 55th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that officially begins later on Wednesday.
He said that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that untreated youth mental health conditions cost Latin American and Caribbean economies over US$30 billion annually, borne by parents who cannot work, by children who struggle in school, and by communities that lose hope.
PAHO and WHO said that the forum will provide an opportunity for discussion among foreign ministers attending the OAS General Assembly to leverage regional leadership and identify common perspectives for advancing mental health and making a global contribution.
Prime Minister Browne said that the event is taking place at a time when a grave crisis, “long hidden in plain sight, demands our collective resolve.
“Across our hemisphere, seven out of 10 individuals in need of mental healthcare receive no counselling, no medication, no community support. In Antigua and Barbuda and other Caribbean states, many endure symptoms in silence, or travel abroad for services they cannot find at home.”
Browne told the forum that “this disparity is unacceptable” and that every human being, regardless of geographic location or income, deserves access to quality mental healthcare.
He said in the United States, economic losses due to mental illness reached US$193 billion in 2008, and that by 2024, a study by Columbia, Yale, and Wisconsin universities raised that figure to US$282 billion annually.
“These losses manifest as absenteeism, truancy, reduced productivity, disability payments, and the costs of homelessness and incarceration. If we continue under-investing, these drains on our economies will deepen. These cascading effects transform individual suffering into community crises. When we neglect mental health, we do not save money; we invest in failure.”
Prime Minister Browne said that behind each statistic lies a human story.
“A teenager in Brazil who cannot concentrate because panic grips her heart; a farmer in Guatemala battling depression alone; a mother in Jamaica watching hopelessly, as her son’s schizophrenia worsens for lack of treatment,” he said, adding “without urgent action, these stories will multiply”.
He said that the OAS General Assembly here will adopt a resolution entitled, “Addressing the Critical Mental Health Crisis in the Americas”, which commits the region to mobilise resources for mental health awareness, fund scholarships in psychology and psychiatry, and establish clinics that integrate mental health screening into primary care.
Browne said that it affirms that mental health is as vital as physical health and that by adopting it will be an important first step.
“But, to make this vision real, we must embed mental healthcare into primary care systems, ensuring screening is as routine as checking blood pressure. We must train doctors, nurses, and community health workers to detect early warning signs…and create pathways to psychiatric services without delay.”
The Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister said that in any community, individuals hesitate to seek help because they believe no one understands.
“We must rebuild trust by ensuring that care is available and compassionate. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed glaring weaknesses in our health systems, and mental health was among the most under-resourced sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
He said that the WHO’s Pandemic Agreement, adopted last month, calls for equitable access to clinical care and essential health services, emphasizing mental health and psychosocial support.
“Those of us who continue to be members of the WHO must act on this summons and strengthen our systems now so that we can withstand future crises,” Prime Minister Browne said, noting that “policies alone will not suffice.
“We must rekindle community bonds: Schools must teach emotional literacy alongside academic courses. Workplaces must offer counselling; neighbourhoods must create support groups and safe spaces. Faith-based and civil society organizations must host dialogues that overcome stigma and foster understanding.”
Prime Minister Browne, who told the forum that he was speaking from personal experience, said families and caregivers are often the first line of defence.
“Yet, they receive little guidance. We must equip them with resources, including workshops, manuals, and online portals, so that they learn how to recognize mental distress, respond to crises, and foster healing.
“When parents understand the biology of depression and siblings learn to communicate with a loved one living with bipolar disorder, families become sources of resilience rather than isolation.”
He said that he and his sister witnessed stigma’s cruelty when their late mother struggled with mental health challenges.
“Society whispered judgments, but in our home, love prevailed. We refused to let scorn define her worth. From her struggles, we learned resilience, empathy, and the transformative power of compassion.
“In her memory – and many hundreds of thousands like her – we must dismantle every wall of shame and build bridges of understanding,” Prime Minister Browne said, adding that the time for transformative action is now.
“We can continue to ignore mental health, paying for that neglect with shattered lives, fractured families, and economies drained by lost potential. Or we can choose a different path: one that recognizes mental health as the cornerstone of human dignity and societal well-being.
“By pooling our resources, expertise, and resolve, we can ensure that every person in the Americas has access to care and compassion. We must build inclusive, resilient healthcare systems that treat mental health as indispensable.
“We must dedicate funding that reflects the true human and economic costs of mental health needs. We should understand that two or three percent of health budgets is insufficient; it is a decision to allow suffering and loss to continue and to grow,” Browne said, adding regional collaboration is key.
“Together, we can establish a regional research and development program and an observatory to collect data, track trends, and measure progress utilising AI (artificial intelligence) and other technologies.
“We can forge public–private partnerships, inviting corporations to invest in employee wellness programs and university scholarships, knowing that healthy minds yield healthier businesses and more resilient economies.”
Prime Minister Browne urged the delegates here to link their deliberations with the United Nations’ Fourth High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, which will be held in September this year on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He said that the meeting will adopt a new Political Declaration, setting a global vision for promoting mental health toward 2030 and beyond.
“Our collective momentum here in Antigua and Barbuda must carry forward to New York, ensuring that the commitments we forge today inform and strengthen that critical global dialogue.
“The Americas possess the creativity, resilience, and compassion to make a difference. Let us seize this moment. Let’s develop a culture of love for our shared humanity; empathy and support for those with mental health challenges to end the stigma, condemnation, isolation, and rejection.”
According to the WHO/PAHO, addressing mental health is not only a health issue, but also an economic, social, and development imperative.
They said projections indicate that by 2030, untreated mental health problems will cost the global economy US$16 trillion in lost productivity.
CMC/pr/ir/2025