Mental healthcare in Europe under-resourced
An OECD report says national governments need to invest more in mental healthcare to treat hidden disorders such as depression and anxiety.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned in a report published today (8 July) that mental healthcare is under-resourced in many countries, including EU member states.
The report says that national governments need to do more to improve this as “social and economic costs of mental ill-health are high and rising”. Part of the problem is the lack of reliable data and the ability to accurately measure the invested resources.
According to the report the indirect costs of mental diseases, such as lost productivity, are significant because they often remain untreated. Investing more in primary care and referring patients to specialists would be a better way of treating so-called ‘mild-to-moderate’ mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, which are under-treated in all 37 countries included in the study.
In Sweden, mental health is not a priority in the country’s health strategy the report said. Social security minister Ulf Kristersson has responded to the claims by saying that the criticism is “reasonable”. Kristersson said that Sweden is not “adequately equipped” when it comes to availability of care.
Though the Netherlands is a front-runner in terms of innovative payment systems, rising suicide rates and high depression-related cases are alarming, the report finds. The researchers have warned about the high number of psychiatric beds and productivity losses.
Both the United Kingdom and Italy have worked on de-institutionalising mental healthcare and focusing on treatment on a community-based model. In Italy, this regional approach to the administration of mental health services caused problems in data collection, making it difficult to provide a nation-wide picture of mental healthcare quality.
In 2013 the European Commission launched a three-year action plan on mental health aimed at building a mental health policy at European level. It should also strengthen community based mental healthcare and better integrate mental health in EU policies. The action plan is part of the EU health programme which will end in January 2016.