Turning Commitment to Action for Mental Health

Approximately 1 billion people worldwide are affected by mental health problems, such as depression and psychosis. By 2030, mental health is predicted to be the world's largest health burden. Governments made commitments to address this global challenge, at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting (HLM) on prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and promoting mental health in September 2025.

Wellcome is organizing this session at the World Health Summit to discuss what tangible steps we need to take as a global health community to implement these commitments. The panel will bring together public health professionals, policy makers, and people with lived experience to engage in a Q&A session.

The discussion will cover three key themes:
• global priorities for mental health,
• bridging the gaps in mental health, and
• transformative approaches to mental health.

The objectives of the session are to:
1. Highlight mental health commitments made from the HLM and political declaration.
2. Identify research and policy challenges, and opportunities, for expanding access to mental health care.
3. Understand changes required to effectively implement mental health interventions that best suit the needs of the population.
4. Promoting meaningful engagement of lived experience experts in the design, delivery and evaluation of policy and health care practices.

The spirit of the session will be optimistic and solution-driven, celebrating the commitments made at the HLM while empowering attendees to comprehend how to actively contribute to transforming mental health care on a global scale.