Roadmap for the Future: What is Needed in the Region?

Abstract

South Asia is home to 20 % of world population and comprises low and middle income countries. These countries account for a large burden of mental and behavioural disorders. There is a huge treatment gap due to scarcity of available mental health resources, inequities in their distribution, and inefficiencies in their use. Advocacy efforts by international organizations, national opinion makers and users are necessary to generate sufficient political will to prioritize mental health services. All countries in the region should have mental health policy, mental health legislation and a dedicated mental health budget. All stakeholders should be involved in planning of mental health services after taking into account felt needs of the community and ground realities. Plans should be implemented in a time bound manner with periodic assessment of performance at ground level to initiate prompt corrective responses. Decentralization of mental health services and its integration with primary care will make it easily accessible to the community. There is a need for both mental health professionals and non-mental health care providers (including traditional and alternate systems of medicine among others) to support each other in providing better and broad based services. Family and community resources hold promise in delivering services and need to be explored. Training needs of diverse providers need to be addressed. Priority research aimed at finding innovative solutions should help bridge the mental health research as well as treatment gap. All levels—individual, family, community, facility, district, national, and global—have a role and responsibility if health for all is to be achieved.