World Health Organization (WHO) has said that “depression” is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide.

A press release issued by WHO on Thursday estimated that "more than 300 million people" are living with depression.

WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan said that the new figures “are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with urgency that it deserves”.

“Lack of support for people with mental disorders, coupled with a fear of stigma, prevent many from accessing the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives,” said WHO.

WHO has begun a year-long campaign called “Depression: let’s talk”, with the goal to get more people suffering with depression to “both seek and get help”.

This is also the theme of the 2017 edition of World Health Day, marked on 7 April.

WHO’s Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Dr. Shekhar Saxena said that the reason the campaign was named “Depression: let’s talk” because of “the continuing stigma associated with mental illness,” adding that “for someone living with depression, talking to a person they trust is often the first step towards treatment and recovery.”

One of the first steps of the campaign is to “address issues around prejudice and discrimination”, said WHO.

The health organization said that there are strong links “between depression and other noncommunicable disorders and diseases”, adding that depression “increases the risk of substance use disorders and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease; the opposite is also true, meaning that people with these other conditions have a higher risk of depression”.

"It is also an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year”, said WHO.