DOHA: The total economic cost of mental disorders in Qatar is estimated at QR1.7bn every year.
Three of the six “most burdensome diseases” in the country and three of the top five causes of disability are mental disorders, according the Qatar National Mental Health Strategy document released yesterday.
The data was based on the Global Burden of Disease study released in 2010 that gave country specific trends of health loss due to diseases, injuries and risk factors.
The study found that depression is the leading cause of disability globally and there are nearly 1m suicides every year worldwide and people with severe mental illnesses die on average 20 years earlier than general population.
“Based on an analysis of Qatar’s submission for this study, mental health is indicated as being one of the three priority areas for health services in the country,” said the document.
The global median percentage of government health budget expenditure on mental health is 2.8 per cent. Current mental health expenditure in Qatar is yet to be quantified, although the 2011 Mental Health Atlas submission describes Hamad Medical Corporation Psychiatric Services (the major public health provider) as representing 1.95 per cent of the health budget.
“A key outcome of implementation of this strategy will be the reduction in the mental health treatment gap. The gap is defined as being the difference between the number of people that currently access services (service utilisation), and the number of people currently require mental health services (prevalence),” it added.
HMC is the largest provider of psychiatric services in Qatar. The 2011 service utilisation data indicated that about 4.6 percent of Qataris and 1 percent of non-Qataris accessed mental health services.
This means that current service utilisation may represent only 25 percent of the needs of Qataris and 5 percent of the needs of non-Qataris. “In the context of this current unmet need, mental health planning must be informed by the projected growth and changes in the nature of the population of Qatar. The demographic profile of Qatar will be a critical consideration in mental health service design, capacity and demand planning.”
The strategy acknowledges the main challenges and addresses them with implementation of a plan for system-wide change, including targeted health promotion campaigns, prevention activities and an approved model of care for mental health service delivery.
The Peninsula
