Published in News
Mental health is a critical aspect of overall health and wellbeing, and it is increasingly recognized as a global health priority. However, mental health services remain largely unavailable and inaccessible, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Mental health is a critical aspect of overall health and wellbeing, and it is increasingly recognized as a global health priority. However, mental health services remain largely unavailable and inaccessible, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The World Health Organisation estimates that 970 million people in the world live with a mental disorder, ranging from Depression to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Over 75% of people with mental disorders in LMICs do not receive the care they need.
Unfortunately, mental health is often not given enough attention in healthcare policies and planning which creates a big problem because it means there are not enough mental health services available to meet the needs of people who require them.
The 2022 World Mental Health Report revealed that although many countries claimed to have mental health policies or plans, only 23% invested resources in monitoring these initiatives. Half of the countries surveyed did not attempt to estimate the financial resources required to implement these plans. As a result, the funding allocated to mental health was found to be inadequate, with countries spending less than 2% of their healthcare budgets on mental health averagely, despite the severity of mental health issues.
In addition to limited resources there is a significant shortage of mental health workers, and the numbers of these workers can be as low as 2 per 100,000 people.
The situation is frequently made worse by the stigma that is linked to mental illness in many different cultures, which inhibits people from seeking care for their mental health issues.
Collaborative, implementation science explores how to expand innovative approaches known to work in particular settings to other very different contexts. Such research can play a crucial role in offering evidence for how to overcome obstacles in practice with effective implementation and scalability.
GACD is supporting many innovative approaches to addressing mental health in LMICs for example our projects explore:
Effective task-sharing, where non-specialist healthcare personnel are trained to administer evidence-based treatments for mental health,.
Mobile health interventions, using smartphones or other mobile devices, with the potential to expand access to mental health services in areas with limited resources.
Promising community-based approaches, which involve working with communities to identify local priorities and develop culturally relevant interventions as recommended in _WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan
Investing in mental health services and implementing innovative approaches, that utilize techniques such as task-sharing, mobile health interventions or community-based approaches, can help to improve mental health outcomes and contribute to global health equity.