Thursday, October 10, 2013

Mental Health in Poor settings

Seeking to Increase Awareness and Utilization of Mental Health Services in Low-Resource Settings

Mental Health Challenge



Mental disorders pose severe public health consequences in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), where nearly three quarters of global cases occur. In LMICs and other low-resource settings, mental disorders are exacerbated by a number of challenges. These include lack of awareness and education, as well as stigma from both the community and individuals.
Moreover, there is a profound lack of global investment in mental health care. Although mental disorders contribute more to the global burden of noncommunicable disease than cardiovascular disease or cancer,[1]  the vast majority of countries allocate less than 2% of their health budgets to mental health. [2] Among mental health disorders, unipolar depression [3]  is one of the most common and debilitating, affecting an estimated 5% of the population or 350 million people worldwide.  Anxiety disorders are diagnosed in nearly half of all clinical depression cases. [4]/.../

No comments:

Post a Comment