The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the nations to invest more in mental health, as it believed that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a rapid rise in psychological issues across the globe.
The WHO has been advocating mental health issues for decades. Before the coronavirus pandemic, about a billion people, or one in 8 people globally, were living with mental health issues. Depression and anxiety rose by 25% during the first year of the pandemic, said the WHO in its World Mental Health report. Furthermore, countries only invest 2% of national health budgets in mental health, and less than 1% of all international aid goes to this overlooked cause. “Interest in mental health right now is at an all-time high. But the investment in mental health has not gone up. This report gives countries information on how to invest their mental health money better,” said Mark van Ommeren of the WHO’s mental health unit. According to the reports, more than 70% of people in high-income countries had access to treatment. The number drops to a startling 12% for low-income nations, said the WHO report.
