GLOBAL SURVEY REVEALS SIGNIFICANT GAP IN MEETING WORLD'S MENTAL HEALTH CARE
NEEDS
Mental disorders rank among the top ten illnesses causing disability—more than
37 percent worldwide—with depression being the leading cause of disability
among people ages 15 and older, according to the Global Burden of Disease and
Risk Factors published in 2006. Yet, the world's mental health care needs are
largely going unmet, especially in less developed nations but also in high-
income countries, according to results from a new survey of 17 countries
conducted as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) World Mental Health
Survey Initiative. The results of the initiative, partially funded by the
National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
were published in The Lancet in September 2007.
Full press release: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/press/wang_globalhealth.cfm
