GENEVA, (Reuters) – Hundreds of millions of people in poor countries suffer from untreated mental health disorders that could be helped with inexpensive care, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday.
The United Nations agency launched guidelines for primary care doctors and nurses to treat patients debilitated by depression and psychosis as well as neurological ailments including epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
“We face a misperception that mental health care is a luxury item on the health agenda. But it costs $2 per person per year — it is one of the best buys,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.
The $2 figure is the average cost of providing treatment in developing countries, which WHO says account for 75 percent of people with mental health and neurological problems worldwide.
Its 100-page clinical guidelines, the “Mental Health GAP Intervention Guide,” aim to help health care workers to assess and treat patients suffering from symptoms including anxiety, delusions, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and seizures.
Patients can be treated through low-cost community services or in smaller units staffed by medical assistants, rather than in specialised hospitals, it says.
“We have been very free of commercial influence. It is easy to fall in the trap of recommending drugs for every illness,” said Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s department of mental health. He led a team of 200 experts in drawing up the guide.
Mental health problems often go undiagnosed and victims often endure stigma and discrimination, according to WHO.
“Human rights are abused in a large number of countries, developed and developing. In fact it happens more often in specialised care settings than in primary care,” Saxena said.
