MKRF Initiative: MILKAR (Expected launch 3Q 2023)
Campaign: Mental Health Awareness Campaign
Partners: British Asian Trust (BAT) and numerous organizations providing support to mental health effectees
A campaign on mental health issues in Pakistan
The MILKAR campaign is intended to create awareness, remove stigma, raise red flags, profile success stories and facilitate provision of help.
The Challenges
- 300 million people suffer from depression globally, 60 million from bipolar disorder, 23 million from Schizophrenia.
- 1 out of 3 Pakistani adults suffer from anxiety and depression.
- 3 out of 4 Pakistanis suffer from stress (during COVID-19)
- There are less than 500 psychiatrists in Pakistan. At 1 psychiatrist per nearly half a million people, that is amongst the lowest in the world.
- People don’t report mental health issues:
– because they don’t know
– because of the stigma attached to mental disorders - People don’t know what is meant by mental health problems; inform them.
- People don’t recognize the behavioral red flags; educate them.
- People (both patients and family & friends) are embarrassed to admit; remove the stigma.
- Destroy myths & misconceptions. Build credibility
The Campaign objectives
- Elevate awareness and threat perception about mental health issues to the level of a “National Health Emergency”. (Quantify & measure # & % of people reached)
- Raise awareness, involvement and urgency.
- Unite Pakistan in efforts to understand and combat mental illnesses. (Quantify & measure increase in awareness)
- Build momentum. Change mindsets.
- Detect early. Intervene immediately.