World missed most 2020 mental health targets: WHO Report

NEW DELHI: The recently released edition of Mental Health Atlas (MHA) 2020 has found that the increased attention given to mental health in the recent years has yet to result in a scale-up of quality mental services aligned with needs. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), said that it is extremely troubling that good intentions are not being met with investment. He added that the world needs to act immediately on this wake-up call and substantially increase investment in mental health, because there is no health without mental health.

Dr Tarun Dua, Unit head of WHO, said that in order to build a better post COVID-19 world, it is crucial to invest in mental health data and services. She said that mental, neurological and substance abuse were the most disrupted health services during the pandemic. She added that the cost of low community-based health services is too high. Dr Fahmy Hanna, Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, WHO, said that lost productivity costs a trillion dollars a year, and each dollar invested in mental health would yield a return of $5.

According to the report, out of 171 countries assessed, none is close to achieving targets set for mental health. In 2020, only 51% of WHO member countries reported that their mental health policy was in line with the international and regional human rights instruments, which falls way short of the target of 80%. Only target that was met in 2020 was reduction in the rate of suicide by 10%, but even then, only 35% of the countries had a stand-alone prevention strategy, policy, or plan.

The report revealed that the percentage of governments’ health budgets spent on mental health has scarcely changed in the last two years and still hovers around 2%. MHA 2020 also found massive inequalities in the availability and allocation of mental health resources. In an encouraging figure, visible rise has been noted in the mental health promotion and prevention programmes.

Despite a recommendation by WHO to decentralize mental health care to community settings, the report found that more than 7% of the budget on mental health was allocated to mental health hospitals in middle income countries. This shows that institutionalized inpatient care still receives more funds than general hospitals and primary health care centres in many countries.

The global targets for WHO’s comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (MHAP) has now been extended till 2030. The MHAP now includes new targets for mental health along with 2020 targets such as psychological support in emergency preparedness, integration of mental health into primary health care, and more research on mental health.