WHO:One out of Every 8 People in the World Suffers from Mental Disorder

Geneva, June 17 (QNA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) called on all countries of the world to increase investments in the field of mental health, stressing that the "suffering" at this level was exacerbated by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The organization said in a report, before the start of the pandemic, about one billion people in the world were suffering from some form of mental disorder, and during the first year of the pandemic, the incidence of depression and anxiety increased by a quarter, noting that one out of every eight people in the world suffers from a mental disorder.
The report added that the investments needed to address these cases did not witness any increase, as only 2% of national health budgets and less than 1% of the total international aid to the health sector is devoted to mental health.
Mark van Ommeren, from the WHO Department of Mental Health said that the organization's report on mental health also highlighted the vast differences between countries in terms of access to the necessary medical care with regard to mental health explaining that more than while 70% of people with psychosis receive treatment in high-income countries, only 12% of people with psychosis are treated in low-income countries. (QNA)