SAFMH contributed to a research report commissioned by United for Global Mental Health showing that that financing the integration of mental health into Universal Health Coverage is extremely important and within our reach.
You can download the report here.
Some key findings include:
- Universal Coverage of mental health services could cost as little as R30 (US$2.01) in lower middle-income countries, like South Africa, per person in 2030.
- By achieving Universal Coverage for mental health, we could prevent around 4 million deaths and avert more than 500 million cases of mental health conditions.
- Increasing coverage for essential mental health services globally by half(in line with recommendations made by WHO in their Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030) would require an annual increase in expenditure of R3 (US$0.2) per capital until 2030.
- This increase in investment and the direction of funds to primary and community-based care could avert over half a billion cases of common mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, or epilepsy, by 2030.
These findings make the global case for investing in mental health and support the findings of excellent research being done locally through the Mental Health Investment Case Report.
