Strengthening Government Policy to Achieve Target 3.4 of SDG3 1

The importance of mental health as an integral part of overall health has long been recognised, ² and was reaffirmed in the Declaration of Alma-Ata. ³ Calls for action on mental health have increased over the past decades, such as the annual World Mental Health Day on 10 October, which has been celebrated every year since 1992. ⁴ Multiple high level meetings, conferences and publications have raised awareness of the need for strategies to improve global mental health. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did not include mental health as an identifiable objective, although mental health was relevant to most of the MDGs, especially those relating to physical health, education, and economic development. ⁵ During the design of the post-2015 global framework for poverty eradication and sustainable development, mental health increasingly 188entered discussions which paved the way for the inclusion of mental health in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are not legally binding, but countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving the 17 Goals. Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes, and the countries themselves have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of progress made in implementing the Goals and targets over the next 15 years. ⁶