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The world is failing to cope with a mental health crisis that has resulted in a "massive loss of human capacity and preventable suffering," according to a new report. The review, conducted by a team of 28 world experts, was published in the Lancet medical journal yesterday and estimates that the cost of the crisis will reach $ 16 trillion by 2030.
The report concludes that more than 13 million lives could be saved each year if mental illness were treated properly. The research was launched at the World Summit on Mental Health, Culture Change, a high-level meeting in London.
The report states that mental health problems are increasing worldwide, despite scientific advances in the treatment of many mental health disorders. The report criticizes the poor quality of mental health services, which he says is "generally worse than physical health". In dealing with these services, "all countries can be considered developing countries" because of "vast" inequities "in the distribution and access to mental health resources.
So what is it that can be done?
Experts say there is "a historic opportunity" to reformulate mental health as a goal of sustainable development at the global institutional level. This is because mental health problems are expensive to treat, place a heavy burden on public health, affect a country's productivity levels, and contribute to socio-economic inequality. In this sense, promoting good mental health is the key to "sustainable socio-economic development, better health in general and a more equitable world".
The experts who wrote the report argue that there are six ways to tackle the global mental health crisis, including: strengthening mental health disorders as an integral and essential component of universal health coverage; address barriers and threats to mental health treatment; protect public policies focused on mental health; seize new technological opportunities; invest more in treatment; and invest more in research.
Currently, mental health receives less than 1% of the world's aid. But it's not just money; it's about better targeting the expenses. Experts say most investments in mental health go to hospitals and institutions, not to "community-centered and people-centered care, with a focus on integration into health and service platforms routine social services ".
On World Mental Health Day (10 October), many international organizations noted that one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives; young people are particularly vulnerable to these conditions. According to the World Health Organization, depression is the third leading cause of adolescent illness and disability and suicide, the third leading cause of death among teens aged 15 to 19.
The report also cites a 2015 study that found that the number of deaths generally attributed to mental health disorders is largely underestimated. "Although fewer than one million deaths are attributed to mental disorders [in 2010], natural history models have shown that about 13 million additional deaths were recorded in 2010 in people with mental disorders, "write the experts. "The era of" no sustainable development without mental health "has begun."
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