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

  1. Elevate awareness and threat perception about mental health issues to the level of a “National Health Emergency”. (Quantify & measure # & % of people reached)
  2. Raise awareness, involvement and urgency.
  3. Unite Pakistan in efforts to understand and combat mental illnesses. (Quantify & measure increase in awareness)
  4. Build momentum. Change mindsets.
  5. Detect early. Intervene immediately.