JAMAICA | Shadow Health Minister Calls for National Mental Health Overhaul on World Mental Health Day

Kingston, Jamaica – October 10, 2025 - Shadow Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Alfred Dawes has issued an urgent call for Jamaica to transform its approach to mental health care, describing the current system as "woefully under-resourced" and burdened by persistent stigma.

In a statement marking World Mental Health Day, Dr. Dawes emphasized that mental health challenges affect Jamaicans across all communities and social classes, yet services remain inadequate with too few professionals and insufficient funding.

"Behind every statistic is a face, a family, and a future that can be transformed or tragically cut short depending on how we respond," Dr. Dawes said. "We cannot afford to keep treating mental health as a poor cousin in our health system."

The Shadow Minister highlighted the human cost of inadequate mental health support, pointing to scenarios where young people battling depression are told to "shake it off," employees in crisis face penalization rather than support, and community members with schizophrenia are abandoned on the streets.

"When this happens, we as a society have failed in our responsibility to care," he stated.

Dr. Dawes connected his call to this year's World Mental Health Day theme, "Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies," noting its particular relevance to Jamaica's current reality. He cited the trauma of violent crime, economic hardship, and anxiety from natural disasters as creating a nation "living through multiple crises."

The statement outlined a vision for comprehensive reform, calling for mental health services to be integrated into primary care, adequately funded within the national health budget, and prioritized in policy discussions about Jamaica's future.

Dr. Dawes urged Jamaicans to "look out for one another, to speak openly about mental health, and to demand better from those entrusted with our well-being," adding that "without mental health, there is no true health."

He challenged the nation to move beyond what he termed "platitudes," calling instead for concrete commitment to building a Jamaica where seeking help is seen as "an act of courage" rather than weakness, and where every citizen can live with dignity, purpose, and hope.

The statement represents the latest push by opposition health advocates to elevate mental health as a national priority, amid ongoing concerns about resource allocation in Jamaica's healthcare system.

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