‘The suffering is enormous’: WHO urges mental health action

AFP

The World Health Organization on Friday called on all nations to invest more in mental health, saying “the suffering is enormous” and has been made worse by the Covid pandemic.

Even before Covid-19 almost a billion people were living with a mental disorder, the UN agency said in its largest review of global mental health in two decades.

Then in the first year of the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety went up by a quarter, even as scarce resources were deployed to fighting the virus.

Just two percent of national health budgets and less than one percent of all international health aid goes to mental health, the WHO’s report said.

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“All these numbers are very, very low,” Mark Van Ommeren of the WHO’s mental health unit told a news conference.

“Interest in mental health right now is at an all time-high” due to the pandemic, he said.

“But the investment in mental health has not gone up. This report gives countries information on how to invest their mental health money better.”

He said the report highlighted how “the suffering is enormous” across the world.

About one in eight people globally live with a mental disorder, according to the report.

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It is worse for those living in conflict zones, where one in five people are estimated to suffer from a mental health condition.

And young people, women and people already suffering mental health issues were harder hit by Covid and the following restrictions, Van Ommeren said.

“Where there is adversity, there are more mental health problems,” he added.

The WHO’s “World Mental Health Report” also highlighted vast gaps in access to mental healthcare between nations.

While more than 70 percent of people suffering psychosis receive treatment in high-income countries, the number drops to 12 percent in low-income nations, it said.

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Mexico leads global cases of enforced disappearances, UN report finds

Mexico accounts for the highest number of urgent actions related to enforced disappearances worldwide, according to the latest report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

The report, released by I(dh)eas, indicates that Mexico has accumulated 819 cases between 2012 and February 2026, representing 38% of the global total.

In the past five months alone, 40 new urgent requests have been recorded — more than one-third of all such actions worldwide during that period.

The report warns that this trend reflects a structural problem, as the urgent action mechanism — originally intended as an exceptional measure — has become routine in Mexico.

Although the Mexican state formally complies with response deadlines, the Committee identified significant shortcomings in the implementation of these measures. These include the lack of comprehensive search plans, delays in key investigative procedures such as video surveillance and phone data analysis, and insufficient inquiries into possible links involving state agents.

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The report also highlights inadequate protection for relatives and individuals involved in search efforts, including cases of reprisals.

Among the most serious incidents documented is the disappearance of a father who had denounced alleged involvement of authorities in his son’s case in the state of Guanajuato.

The accumulation of cases could lead to the application of Article 34 of the Convention, which would allow for the launch of an international investigation into systematic enforced disappearances.

Geographically, the state of Chiapas accounts for 30% of the new urgent actions, many of them linked to collective disappearances of migrants.

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International

Le pape Léon XIV appelle à relancer le dialogue pour une paix au Moyen-Orient

Le pape Léon XIV s’est entretenu par téléphone ce vendredi avec le président d’Israël, Isaac Herzog, soulignant la « nécessité de rouvrir » les canaux de dialogue afin de parvenir à une « paix juste » au Moyen-Orient.

Selon un communiqué du Vatican, les deux dirigeants ont insisté sur l’importance de relancer tous les mécanismes diplomatiques pour mettre fin au conflit en cours et œuvrer en faveur d’une paix durable dans la région.

Le communiqué précise également que les discussions ont porté sur la protection des populations civiles et sur le respect du droit international et humanitaire.

Cet échange intervient dans le contexte de la Semaine sainte, cinq jours après un incident à Jérusalem, où la police israélienne avait empêché le cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa de célébrer la messe du Dimanche des Rameaux au Saint-Sépulcre.

Le lendemain, le secrétaire d’État du Vatican, Pietro Parolin, avait convoqué l’ambassadeur israélien auprès du Saint-Siège, Yaron Sideman, pour exprimer le mécontentement du Vatican face à cet incident qualifié de « regrettable ».

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Cette situation avait suscité une vive réaction internationale, poussant le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu à intervenir pour assurer que le cardinal pourrait accéder au lieu saint.

De son côté, Herzog a confirmé l’échange sur son compte X, indiquant que les discussions ont également porté sur des sujets régionaux, notamment la guerre en Iran et la situation au Liban.

Le pape, d’origine américaine, participe actuellement à sa première Semaine sainte depuis son élection et doit présider ce soir le chemin de croix au Vatican.

International

Devotees in Philippines mark Holy Week with extreme rituals despite rising costs

Despite rising fuel prices driven by the conflict in the Middle East, thousands of devotees in Philippines took part this year in one of the country’s most intense Holy Week traditions.

In the city of San Fernando, located in Pampanga province, dozens of bare-chested penitents with covered faces walked barefoot along dusty streets, whipping their backs with bamboo lashes as part of a ritual that can draw up to 12,000 local and foreign visitors.

Journalists from Agence France-Presse reported seeing participants piercing their skin with glass shards attached to small wooden paddles to ensure bleeding during the ceremony — an act believed to atone for sins and seek divine intervention.

“I do this to pray for the healing of my seven-month-old baby, who is suffering from pneumonia,” said a devotee identified as John David at the start of the procession.

The 49-year-old participant explained that the practice runs in his family. “My grandfather started this, then my father, and now it’s my turn. I have witnessed healing miracles over the years through this act of faith,” he said.

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Many attendees traveled for hours to witness the climax of the ritual, in which some penitents allow nails, measuring about seven centimeters, to be driven into their hands before being raised on crosses in a reenactment of crucifixion.