10 October 2026 | South-Eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN)
On World Mental Health Day 2026, the South-Eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) joins international efforts to center people’s experiences in mental health policies and services. This year’s theme, “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change,” underscores the importance of listening to those directly affected and ensuring their perspectives help shape more responsive, inclusive, and effective mental health care.
Across Southeastern Europe, countries have made progress in recognizing mental health as an integral part of public health. Yet significant challenges remain. Access to services varies widely, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Shortages of specialized professionals, stigma, and the continued reliance on institutional care in some settings underscore the need for sustained investment and reform.
Improving mental health care requires more than expanding existing services. It means bringing support closer to where people live, strengthening the links among primary health care, specialized services, and social support, and ensuring continuity of care. It also means giving people a genuine voice in decisions about their treatment and recovery.
For SEEHN, regional cooperation is an important means of advancing these efforts. Through its Member States and the Regional Health Development Centre on Mental Health, the Network supports dialogue, professional exchange, and the sharing of approaches that can inform national policies and services.
The diverse experiences of countries across Southeastern Europe offer valuable opportunities for mutual learning. Successful approaches to community-based care, workforce development, and mental health promotion can inform reforms elsewhere while enabling countries to respond to their own health-system needs and circumstances.
The theme of World Mental Health Day 2026 also speaks to how health policies are developed. Meaningful participation requires opportunities for people with lived experience, their families, and representative organizations to contribute throughout the policy process, from identifying priorities to assessing the quality and accessibility of services.
As SEEHN prepares the Bucharest Pledge and its next Strategic Action Plan, mental health remains a key part of the broader discussion on resilient, equitable, and people-centered health systems. The Network will continue to encourage cooperation with the WHO Regional Office for Europe and other partners, building on the expertise and experience across its Member States.
Listening to lived experience is an important first step. Ensuring that it informs decisions and improves services gives that commitment meaning. On this World Mental Health Day, SEEHN reaffirms its commitment to mental health care that respects individual dignity, supports recovery, and enables people to remain connected to their families and communities.
