Every year, on the 10th of October, we celebrate World Mental Health Day. The theme for this year's celebration is: "Investing in Mental Health".
Available information suggests that around 450 million people worldwide suffer from a mental or behavioural disorder. Studies conducted in Africa, so far, show that at least 1 in 6 people who visit primary health care facilities suffer from some form of mental disorder. Schizophrenia prevalence in our Region is estimated to be nearly 1%. This condition leads to serious disability and puts a considerable burden on the families and communities of affected persons. Mood and substance abuse disorders are becoming an increasing concern in the Region. Moreover, natural disasters, conflicts and other forms of social unrest are common causes of mental disorder. Due to stigma and discrimination, mental disorders have been overlooked quite often.
Since the adoption of the Regional strategy for mental health, over a decade ago, there has been little increase in the number of countries with national mental health policies and plans. To date only 50% of countries in the Region have national mental health policies. There is still inadequate investment in mental health services because the human and financial resources currently provided to tackle the huge burden of mental illness are insufficient and access to mental health services is still very limited.
Although the Regional strategy for mental health advocates for the shifting of some resources from tertiary care to the primary care level, most of the health facilities and services in the Region remain concentrated in the urban areas, making it difficult for persons with mental disorders to access care close to their communities. This hampers access to facilities and services and contributes to stigma and discrimination.
Countries in the Region spend less than 2% of their overall health budget on mental health. An estimated 80% of that proportion is spent on curative care concentrated in major urban hospitals. This leads to a considerable treatment gap between community care and hospital care.
Governments in the Region have shown clear commitment to improving mental health care, although increased allocation of resources is required. I would therefore like to urge governments to invest more resources in mental health services at community and health facility levels. In addition, investment in education and training opportunities for mental health professionals are needed. There is also an urgent need for action-oriented research along with clinical trials to evaluate models and interventions that could improve the quality of mental health services.
Last but not least, I would like to call upon partners to provide support for mental health programmes based on the primary health care approach.
There is no health without mental health.
I thank you all.