World Health Organization 2011 10 October 2011 – “…..New figures from the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011 indicate that while the need for mental health care is large, with up to 25% of the population requiring it at some point in their lives, there is underinvestment in the sector.

The Atlas shows average global spending on mental health is still less than US$ 3 per capita per year and as little as US$ 0.25 per person per year in low-income countries.

It presents data from 184 WHO Member States, covering 98% of the world’s population. Facts and figures presented in Atlas indicate that resources for mental health remain inadequate.

The distribution of resources across regions and income groups is substantially uneven and in many countries resources are extremely scarce.

Results from Atlas reinforce the urgent need to scale up resources and care for mental health within countries….”

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