Financing global mental health services and the role of WHO.

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.