Mental Health Around the World: A Snapshot – The Argus

A look at reform, innovation and shortcomings in mental health from six countries across the globe

According to the World Health Organization, facilities that are specific to mental health care services are “few and far between.” While mental health is included in the basic package of health care services in Afghanistan, it fails at the delivery level. WHO cites “financial, human, infrastructural and information resource constraints” as the major challenges for providing “accessible and acceptable mental healthcare service.” Stigmatization however, seems to be the greatest barrier. The stigmatization of mental health not only affects the people suffering, but extends to mental health care providers as well. Mental health is also largely misunderstood by donors, resulting in little allocation of funding to mental health care projects. In 2011, Afghanistan’s ratio of psychiatrists for the population was 0.16 per 100,000.

Suicide by self-immolation, or burning oneself to death, has become a massive crisis in Afghanistan, particularly among young women. Some have suggested that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where the female suicide rate is higher than that of males, however reliable data on suicide in Afghanistan is scarce. Some figures estimate a yearly rate of 3,000 suicides, with 80% by women. Other figures purport the self-immolation rate to be somewhere in the four thousands. Mental health is currently a “first tier” priority in Afghanistan – one of the Ministry of Public Health’s top five concerns.

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