ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Friday the launch of the government’s “first dedicated mental health app and helpline”.

The development comes as the world celebrates World Health Day. This year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

“On this World Health Day, I am pleased to announce the launch of government’s first dedicated mental health app #Humraaz & helpline. Citizens’ well-being and especially mental health is paramount for our society’s improvement,” the premier said on Twitter.

“We need to remove [the] taboo around mental health,” he added. The image shared alongside the tweet stated that citizens could dial 1166 for the helpline, while also listing several of the initiative’s salient features.

The application will give access to citizens to reach authorities in case of suicidal thoughts or a mental health emergency. It will also allow users to make appointments with psychiatrists and psychologists and will be able to share issues they face confidentially and get appointments.

“The aim of the initiative is to provide consultation services and to help improve the health and quality of life of people suffering from deteriorating mental health,” Salman Sufi, who is head of the prime minister’s strategic reforms, had said earlier in February.

The initiative was being launched at the directives of the prime minister, he said, adding: “There are several government hospitals that are on board with their psychologists along with some others who are not government [officials].”

Sufi said that government servants who felt overwhelmed could also confidentially talk about the pressures they faced and seek assistance. “The WHO and the Ministry of Health are collectively developing it under the PM strategic reforms unit,” he added.

He said that there are not enough psychiatrists and psychologists to assist people suffering from mental health issues and those who were at risk. “But we are deploying as many as we have access to and aim to add more in later stages,” he said, adding that Pakistan was extremely late in launching such an initiative.

“This is why the prime minister asked us to take this up immediately. We are also working on introducing proper licencing and certification system for psychologists and psychiatrists. This application will help us get data more accurately rather than relying on unconfirmed reports as well,” he added.

Sufi said it was important to normalise a conversation about mental health and stop the stigmatisation. “And this app will pave the way for mental health to be recognised as a very important public health concern as the government is supporting citizens suffering from various mental health problems,” he said.