By Joke Kujenya
MORE THAN one billion people are currently living with mental health disorders, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The findings, published in two new reports by World Mental Health Today and the Mental Health Atlas 2024 reveal that conditions such as anxiety and depression continue to impose heavy human and economic costs across all regions, despite recent policy improvements in several countries.
The WHO confirmed that mental health conditions remain highly prevalent across all societies, affecting people of every age group and income level.
Anxiety and depression were identified as the most common disorders worldwide, while overall mental health conditions now represent the second leading cause of long-term disability.
The organisation noted that these conditions not only reduce healthy life years but also drive up healthcare costs for affected families while contributing to substantial global economic losses.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, described the need for transformation as urgent.
“Transforming mental health services is one of the most pressing public health challenges. Investing in mental health means investing in people, communities, and economies – an investment no country can afford to neglect.
“Every government and every leader has a responsibility to act with urgency and to ensure that mental health care is treated not as a privilege, but as a basic right for all,” he said.
The reports, which are intended to guide national strategies and inform global dialogue ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on noncommunicable diseases and promotion of mental health and well-being scheduled for 25 September 2025 in New York, highlighted both progress and persistent gaps.
Findings from World Mental Health Today confirmed that women are disproportionately affected by mental health disorders, although both men and women face high prevalence of anxiety and depression.
Suicide remains a leading cause of death globally, claiming an estimated 727,000 lives in 2021.
The WHO stressed that while suicide prevention efforts are underway worldwide, progress has been too slow to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing suicide mortality by one-third by 2030.
Based on current projections, only a 12 per cent reduction will be achieved by that deadline.
The report also stressed the significant economic cost of mental health conditions.
While direct healthcare spending is high, the indirect costs from lost productivity represent an even greater burden.
Depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy approximately US$1 trillion every year.
The Mental Health Atlas 2024 outlined trends since 2020, noting that many countries have updated their policies, adopted rights-based approaches, and strengthened preparedness for mental health and psychosocial support during health emergencies.
However, the WHO reported that this momentum has not translated into widespread legal reform. Only 45 per cent of countries surveyed had mental health legislation fully compliant with international human rights standards.
Investment levels remain critically low.
The median government expenditure on mental health services stands at just 2 per cent of total health budgets, a figure unchanged since 2017.
The disparities between high-income and low-income countries are stark: spending reaches up to US$65 per person in wealthier nations but falls as low as US$0.04 in some low-income states.
Global workforce shortages are also acute, with a median of 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people and severe deficits in lower-income regions.
The WHO reported that fewer than 10 per cent of countries have completed a shift to community-based models of care.
Psychiatric hospitals continue to absorb a large share of inpatient admissions, with nearly half occurring involuntarily and over 20 per cent lasting longer than one year.
Integration into primary healthcare is improving, with 71 per cent of countries meeting at least three of five WHO benchmarks, but service coverage remains inconsistent.
For example, only 22 countries provided sufficient data to estimate coverage for psychosis, and in low-income settings fewer than 10 per cent of affected individuals receive care, compared to over 50 per cent in higher-income countries.
Encouragingly, more than 80 per cent of countries now include mental health and psychosocial support in emergency response planning, up from 39 per cent in 2020.
School-based programmes, suicide prevention initiatives, and early childhood development interventions are also expanding.
Outpatient services and telehealth are becoming more widely available, although distribution remains uneven across regions.
The WHO concluded that while important advances have been made, countries remain far behind in achieving the targets of its Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan.
It urged governments and partners to intensify their efforts by ensuring equitable financing, undertaking legal and policy reforms to protect rights, increasing investment in the mental health workforce, and expanding community-based, person-centred care.
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