World Mental Health day

World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental health issues. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services. The treatment gap for mental, neurological and substance use disorders is formidable especially in poor resource countries.

This year the theme is "The great push: Investing in mental health". Financial and human resources allocated for mental health are inadequate especially in low resource countries. The majority of low- and middle-income countries spend less than 2% of their health budget on mental health.

The World Health Organization are launching the Mental Health Atlas 2011 and call governments to invest more for mental health.

One in four people will require mental health care at some time in their lives, yet globally, spending on mental health is less than US$2/person/year and less than 25 cents in low-income countries.

We need to increase investment for mental health and to shift the available resources towards more effective and more humanitarian forms of services.

Additional Links:

• WHO - World Mental Health Day

• Mental Health Atlas 2011

• World Federation for Mental Health
• Q&A: What is mental health?
• Q&A: How can the human rights of people with mental disorders be promoted and protected?

Edited: S. Robin