About this Journal

 
Article Abstract

Online ISSN: 1099-176X    Print ISSN: 1091-4358
The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics
Volume 6, Issue 3, 2003. Pages: 145-147

Published Online: 30 Oct 2003

Copyright © 2003 ICMPE.


 

Commentary:
Financing Global Mental Health Services and the Role of WHO

Teh-wei Hu*

Ph.D., Professor of Health Economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

*Correspondence to: Prof. Teh-wei Hu, School of Public Health, University of San Francisco at Berkeley, 19 Earl Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Tel.: +1-510-643 6298
Fax: +1-510-643 6981
E-mail: thu@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Abstract

A concrete indicator of a government's commitment to mental health services is the amount of financial resources it allocates. To encourage the government to increase mental health funding, it would require additional research and dissemination findings on the economic consequences of mental health disorders, cost-effectiveness benefits of alternatives treatment, and alternative methods of financing for mental health illnesses. In addition, an organized consumer group can be an effective means in informing legislative and government policy makers. Public financing alone is not sufficient for treating mental illness. Private financing may supplement public funding. It would be important to combine both public and private funding to deliver adequate services for mental illness patients. WHO has been very effective in global tobacco control and SARS epidemic. The new administration should use this successful momentum to initiate a global funding campaign for mental health disorder as a top priority.

 

 


Copyright © 2003 ICMPE