Lord David Blunkett addressed the issue at a reception at the House of Lords on Wednesday, which he hosted on behalf of Christian overseas disability charity CBM.
He underlined the need to improve access to mental health support for people in the poorest places of the world and shared how he had witnessed first-hand, some of the challenges faced by children with disabilities on a trip to East Africa.
He said: “I was struck by the challenge of getting a child to school, let alone to healthcare, let alone medical treatment or to overcome some of the challenges around disability.
“As well as the normal challenge of those in developing world to raise a family and earn a living – add to that isolation and attitudinal barriers that exclude blind and disabled people. It’s not surprising that mental health is an issue challenging all of us around the world”.
While he praised the work of campaigners like Norman Lamb MP on mental health in the UK, he said the scale of the global challenge is huge.
He added: “If we know that mental health is a massive issue here in the UK, imagine the scale of the problem in developing countries…”
The reception brought together parliamentarians, CBM supporters and international development sector leaders to raise awareness of the exclusion faced by people with disabilities and in particular, those living with psychosocial disabilities – which are caused by mental health…
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