Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Mar 28:10:1178632917694350.
doi: 10.1177/1178632917694350. eCollection 2017.

Mental Health Service Provision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Shanaya Rathod  1 , Narsimha Pinninti  2 , Muhammed Irfan  3 , Paul Gorczynski  4 , Pranay Rathod  5 , Lina Gega  6 , Farooq Naeem  7
Affiliations
Review

Mental Health Service Provision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Shanaya Rathod et al. Health Serv Insights. .

Abstract

This article discusses the provision of mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a view to understanding the cultural dynamics-how the challenges they pose can be addressed and the opportunities harnessed in specific cultural contexts. The article highlights the need for prioritisation of mental health services by incorporating local population and cultural needs. This can be achieved only through political will and strengthened legislation, improved resource allocation and strategic organisation, integrated packages of care underpinned by professional communication and training, and involvement of patients, informal carers, and the wider community in a therapeutic capacity.

Keywords: Mental health services; low- and middle-income countries; service provision.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Jacob K, Sharan P, Mirza I, et al. Mental health systems in countries: where are we now? Lancet. 2007;370:1061–1077. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Disease and Injury Regional Estimates for 2004. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2004. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates_regional/e....
    1. World Health Organization. The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2008.
    1. Adams CE, Tharyan P, Coutinho ES, Stroup TS. The schizophrenia drug-treatment paradox: pharmacological treatment based on best possible evidence may be hardest to practise in high-income countries. Br J Psychiatry. 2006;189:391–392. - PubMed
    1. Mathers D, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e442. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources