Citation

Gureje O, Oladeji BD. Lancet Psychiatry 2022; 9(1): 3-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00438-7

PMID

34921794

Abstract

FINDINGS from efforts to address the treatment gap for mental health conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) suggest that non-specialist health providers can deliver effective evidence-based care for people with common mental disorders. Severe mental disorders (SMD) are relatively less common, however, there is some evidence that parts of sub-Saharan Africa might have had one of the largest percentage increases in the prevalence of schizophrenia, the prototypical severe mental health condition, over the period 1990 to 2016. Globally, SMD impose disproportionate burden on societies and affected individuals in addition to the associated abuse and human rights violations. In LMIC, the resources required to provide services for people with SMD, in particular mental health specialists, are generally insufficient and inequitably distributed, resulting in up to 90% of individuals with these conditions unable to access the mental health care they need. Ideally, investigations into how best to extend care to people with these disorders should be a priority. Unfortunately, other than a few notable exceptions, empirical evidence on how best to meet the needs of such individuals by use of available human resources in LMIC has been largely absent. The development of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) by WHO suggested that the most feasible pathway to extend mental health care in resource-constrained settings is to empower non-specialists to provide the bulk of the required service...

Language: en