Putting the “Mental” into Health
September 4th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — People suffering mental health disorders are getting shortchanged in nations around the world, despite the suggestion that their disorders account for a greater burden of disease than heart disease, stroke and cancer.
That’s the conclusion of researchers contributing to a six-part report on the state of mental health care in developing and developed countries. The studies suggest:
· 14 percent of the global disease burden can be attributed to mental disorders like depression, alcohol and substance abuse, and psychoses
· The link between mental health and physical health is stronger than most people believe, contributing to everything from communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS to heart disease, diabetes and accidents
· 85 percent of the world’s population lives in low- and middle-income countries with inadequate resources to support mental health services for their people
· 70 percent of African nations and 50 percent of Southeast Asia nations spend less than 1 percent of their health budgets on mental health, compared to more than 5 percent for more than 60 percent of European nations
· About a third of countries have no budget for mental health at all
· Up to 30 percent of people around the world suffer from a mental disorder every year, while 66 percent receive inadequate treatment, even in nations with the best resources
The authors of one of the papers — titled “No Health Without Mental Health” — sum up the situation by calling for more attention to mental disorders and the role they play in overall health. “The moral and ethical case for redressing the imbalance in provision for people with mental disorders can brook no delay,” they write.
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SOURCE: The Lancet, published online Sept. 3, 2007