Protecting and promoting mental health in the Americas

Abstract

Mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, and psychoactive substance use-related disorders, such as alcohol or tobacco abuse, affect people all over the world and contribute to an important burden of disease. The Americas is no exception. The Region has high prevalence rates of anxiety and depressive disorders, and has experienced a considerable increase in recent years of people living with dementia, the third leading cause of death in the Region in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues and brought them into the spotlight. Latin America and the Caribbean saw a deterioration in mental health at the population level with prevalences of major depressive and anxiety disorders rising by 35% and 32%, respectively, in 2020. Some groups were disproportionately affected, such as health and frontline workers, women, young people, individuals with preexisting mental health conditions, ethnic minorities, and those living in situations of vulnerability. There is a lack of access to quality services for mental health conditions in many countries. Furthermore, these services are underfinanced; public spending on mental health is only about 3% of the health budget. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has urged all Member States to promote increased investment in mental health services.