Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, MP, Secretary of State for Health, United Kingdom: Repeal illegal mental health laws - which do not comply with the CRPD
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - fully ratified by the UK government - guarantees equality under the law for all persons with disabilities.
The UK Mental Health Act allows (as in many other countries) people with mental health problems to be treated against their will even when they have capacity to make a decision and can understand information given to them.
In the UK people can be compelled to accept treatment even if they live in the community. This is contrary to civil liberties and leads to second-class citizenship or non-citizenship for many thousands of people who are forced to take medication which is not clearly proven to cure mental illness and which often leads to physical disability and early death, which is clearly proven.
It is too easy for psychiatrists to put people on serious medications instead of finding out the cause of their problems which may have led to their distress and breakdown in the first place, or which currently perpetuate their problems.
So long as forcible treatment with medication and electric shock can be given, there is not much incentive to improve services and support for this marginalised and oppressed group and their families.
The recent statement of the UN CRPD Committee regarding Article 12 of the Convention (see http://www.madinamerica.com/2014/04/historic-moment-legal-capacity) makes it clear that the intention of CRPD is to end forced treatment in mental health.
The CRPD committee are reviewing the UK's compliance with the Convention this year, so here is an opportunity for a real public debate.
If forced medication is disallowed then other ways to help people with mental distress are more likely to be implemented. There is lots of research on what helps people other than medication.
People with mental distress and their families deserve full consideration of their needs, not a simplistic medical solution which does little to help most people to have a full life as citizens.