OECD urges countries to invest in mental health care

ANKARA

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a sharp rise in mental health problems, particularly among the youth population, unemployed and those facing financial insecurity, according to a new OECD report on Tuesday.

"Countries should provide adequate support to those affected, while urgently scaling up investment and quality of care to reduce the high social and economic costs of mental ill-health," the report said.

Mental health care has long been overlooked and under-funded, and unmet need for care is still high in OECD countries, it said.

"Even before the onset of the pandemic, an estimated one in two people experienced a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime, and one in five were living with mental ill-health at any given time," the report added.

Since the start of the pandemic, levels of mental distress have risen sharply, particularly among young people, with prevalence of anxiety and depression even doubling in some countries.

"Mental ill-health drives economic costs equal to more than 4.2% of GDP, some of which are the direct costs of treatment, but more than a third of which are related to lower employment rates and reduced productivity," the report said.

It said the level of spending on mental health care has increased in OECD countries over the past decade, but the share of total health spending dedicated to mental health has not increased and has even declined in some countries.

The OECD suggested that countries must invest more in improving mental health performance to drive faster and more meaningful improvements.