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Project Syndicate, 7 November 2024
According to an Ipsos poll conducted in 2018, 27% of global respondents said that mental health was one of the biggest health problems. When the poll was repeated this year, that figure had risen to 45%, with mental health overtaking cancer and obesity as the top concern.
They are right to worry. A 2023 study found that half the world’s population will develop a mental-health disorder in their lifetime. But as of 2020, average government spending on mental health represented only 2.1% of health expenditures.
While policymakers should increase spending on mental health, prevention is better than treatment. Addressing the problem at its root could mean implementing programs aimed at reducing poverty, which, given the relentless strain of economic insecurity, is a major risk factor. But a recent United Nations report (which one of us prepared) found that relative poverty (how an individual fares against others) fuels mental illness more than absolute poverty (being unable to afford the essentials) does. This suggests that reducing income inequality would have a greater impact on mental-health outcomes.