No Health Without Mental Health

“Let us recognize that there can be no health without mental health.” Those were the profound words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on October 10, a day earmarked since 1992 as World Mental Health Day. In his message, he also emphasized that mental health is paramount to a person’s “well-being, family relationships and an individual’s ability to contribute to society.” But on a grave note, he reminded us that because resources are not only “insufficient, inequitably distributed and inefficiently used,” a large majority of people with mental disorders receive no care at all. “Scaling-up services should be a priority,” he said.

The World Health Organization’s Mental Health Gap Action Program is designed to do just that. Launched this month, the program highlights the huge treatment gap for a number of mental, neurological and substance use disorders and identifies strategies for “scaling up” mental health care using cost-effective interventions in resource-constrained settings. Strategies include assessing an individual countries needs and resources, developing sound mental health policy and legislation, and increasing human and financial resources. The program calls on all partners, including governments, donors and mental care stakeholders to join together for advocacy and action to make this program successful.

Unfortunately, mental disorders generally ranks low on the public agenda, with most countries allocating less than 2 percent of their health budget to mental health care, according to WHO. Not only are mental health resources scarce worldwide, they are distributed inequitably among different regions. Data indicates that in developing countries, 36 percent of all mental health professionals work in mental hospitals located mostly in urban areas, far from the reach of rural population. “We need to reinforce partnerships, accelerate efforts, scale up interventions, increase investments towards providing services to those who do not have any, and the political will to see all this through,” said Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. Community and economic development can also be used to restore and enhance mental health, the doctor said.

With proper care and medication, 450 million people worldwide could benefit from treatment for diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy and begin to lead healthy lives—even in areas where resources are scarce. For example, poor countries could provide basic treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and alcohol abuse by spending a mere 20 cents for every person in the country each year. And for $5 a year per person, the nine of ten people suffering from epilepsy across Africa who go untreated could have access to anticonvulsant drugs.

“Governments across the world need to see mental health as a vital component of primary health care. We need to change policy and practice,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. “Only then can we get the essential mental health services to the tens of millions in need.”