Question

Evaluate the extent to which the government has contributed to any four of the social issues

Answer 1

Answer:

This is the second in our series of four articles about mental health and the global agenda. The first paper addressed core conceptual issues in relation to mental health in low- and middle-income countries.1 This second paper addresses social, economic, human rights and political challenges to global mental health. The third paper addresses international and national policy challenges to global mental health,2 while the fourth paper addresses health system challenges to global mental health.3

The social, economic, human rights and political challenges to global mental health addressed in this article include the inextricable relationship between mental health, poverty and debt; the need for more health economics research on cost-effective interventions; limited funding available to improve access to mental health services, the need for a move away from a concentration of whatever limited resources are available on specialist services in major cities alone in favour of better integration of mental health into country-wide primary care-led services; the need for careful strategic dialogue and action around public policy and its implementation; the role of health professionals and national mechanisms in scaling up access to services; the need for an improved global architecture for mental health; the need to strengthen links between mental and social development; and finally a consideration of the importance of a human rights approach as an additional lever to argue for improvements in mental health policy and implementation.