According to fresh data issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) , over 1 crore people worldwide suffer from a mental health illness, with women making up over 53% of those affected.
According to the WHO’s World Mental Health Today and Mental Health Atlas 2024 reports, mental health disorders like depression and anxiety have a significant negative impact on people’s lives and the economy. They also advocated for increased funding and action to expand services that support and enhance people’s mental health.
According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “transforming mental health services is one of the most pressing public health challenges.”
“Investing in mental health is an investment that no nation can afford to overlook because it benefits individuals, communities, and economies. It is the duty of every government and leader to take swift action and guarantee that mental health care is regarded as a fundamental human right rather than a privilege, he continued.
According to the reports, the most prevalent mental health conditions in both men and women are anxiety and depressive disorders. But altogether, women are disproportionately affected.
In total, 581.5 million women and 513.9 million men suffer from a mental illness.
Pregnant women and women in the year following childbirth were shown to have a high prevalence of mental problems, which frequently had detrimental effects on both mothers and infants. Depression affects over 10% of pregnant women and women in the year following childbirth worldwide. This number is thought to be significantly greater in low- and medium-income countries (LMICs), according to the reports.
The survey also revealed that suicide is still a terrible consequence, with an anticipated 727,000 deaths in 2021 alone. It is a major cause of death for youth in all nations and socioeconomic backgrounds, and there hasn’t been enough success in lowering the suicide mortality rate.
Only 12% of the one-third reduction in suicide rates that is intended to be accomplished by 2030 will really be accomplished.
Furthermore, mental health illnesses have a tremendous economic cost because they cause lost productivity. According to the WHO report, anxiety and depression alone cost the world economy $1 trillion annually.
According to the 2024 Mental Health Atlas, just 45% of nations assessed their laws to be fully compliant with international human rights norms, and fewer nations have enacted or implemented rights-based mental health legislation.
The study also found that funding for mental health has stagnated, which is troubling. Since 2017, the median government spending on mental health has remained at just 2% of total health budgets, with low-income nations paying as little as $0.
The World Health Organization urged governments to step up their efforts immediately to improve mental health systems around the globe.
This entails maintaining investment in the mental health workforce, expanding community-based, person-centered treatment, reforming laws and policies to protect human rights, and equitably providing mental health services.