Durban — There are about 970 million people in the world with mental health disorders. This was revealed by the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health Report.
This report revealed that in 2019, 14% of the affected group was young people between the ages of 10-19. Moreover, one in 100 people kills themselves because of pressure.
Director General of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the Covid pandemic took a huge toll on people’s mental health. Rates of already common conditions such as depression and anxiety went up by more than 25% in the first year of the pandemic. He said this added to the nearly one billion people already living with a mental disorder.
“At the same time, we must recognise the frailty of health systems attempting to address the needs of people with newly-presenting as well as pre-existing mental health conditions. On average, countries dedicate less than 2% of their health-care budgets to mental health. More than 70% of mental health expenditure in middle-income countries still goes towards psychiatric hospitals,” he said.
Suicide was ruled as one of the causes of death of people between the age of 15-29. Some 82% of people with mental health disorders are said to be living in developing countries, including South Africa.
At the 2023 mental health conference which was held recently, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said the country was still facing several challenges in the area of mental health. He added that the mental health services grant established in 2018 is intended to increase human resources at the coalface.
“It would also ensure that staff at the primary health care level are trained to improve their skills in early identification, management and referral of those who need higher-level interventions,” said Phaahla.
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