Mental disorders in Latin America and the Caribbean Forecast to Increase

Washington, D.C., 9 December 2005 (PAHO)—The number of people with mental disorders in the Region of the Americas is forecast to increase from 114 million in 1990 to 176 million in 2010, according to the director of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Mirta Roses.

"Health authorities recognize that mental disorders and substance abuse are important public health problems. Nevertheless, research carried out in recent years on those problems' prevalence, impact, and associated costs demonstrate that their magnitude has been underestimated," says Roses in the current issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health, which is devoted to mental health and substance abuse.

In the year 2000, she notes, "These disorders comprised 24% of the burden of disease in the Region of the Americas, with depression being the principal component of that burden. When analyzing these figures, it should be taken into account that mental health problems affect both adults and children. Nearly 20% of children and adolescents suffer from disorders that require the support of or intervention by mental health care services, and those disorders lead to both social stigma and discrimination."

The Pan American Health Organization has been working with the countries of the Americas to build their capacity to gather information on mental health and substance abuse, develop and apply appropriate policies, strengthen services, and improve national legislation, in order to enhance systems to prevent and control these problems, Roses added.

"The current treatment gap in mental health care in Latin America and the Caribbean remains wide. Further, current data likely greatly underestimate the number of untreated individuals. The epidemiological transition and changes in the population structure will further widen the treatment gap in Latin America and the Caribbean unless mental health policies are formulated or updated and programs and services are expanded," say the authors of "Mental disorders in Latin America and the Caribbean: a public health priority," an article in the journal.

Using data extracted from community-based psychiatric epidemiological studies published in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1980 through 2004 that used structured diagnostic instruments and provided prevalence rates, the authors conclude that "Nonaffective psychosis (including schizophrenia) had an estimated mean one-year prevalence rate of 1.0%; major depression, 4.9%; and alcohol use abuse or dependence, 5.7%. Over one-third of individuals with nonaffective psychosis, over half of those with an anxiety disorder, and some three-fourths of those with alcohol use abuse or dependence did not receive mental health care from either specialized or general health services."

The authors, experts and leaders in the field of mental health, include Robert Kohn (Brown University), Itzhak Levav (Ministry of Health of Israel and currently in PAHO), José Miguel Caldas de Almeida (PAHO), Benjamín Vicente (University of Concepción, Chile), Laura Andrade (University of São Paulo, Brazil), Jorge J. Caraveo-Anduaga (Mexican Institute of Psychiatry), as well as Shekhar Saxena and Benedetto Saraceno, both of the World Health Organization.

In another article on "Alcohol consumption and burden of disease in the Americas: implications for alcohol policy," Jürgen Rehm and Maristela Monteiro note that "Alcohol consumption in the Americas averaged more than 50% higher than worldwide consumption. Patterns of irregular heavy drinking prevailed. Alcohol consumption caused a considerable disease burden: 4.8% of all the deaths and 9.7% of all Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost in the year 2000 were attributable to drinking, with most of the burden occurring outside North America. Intentional and unintentional injuries accounted for 59.8% of all alcohol-related deaths and 38.4% of the alcohol-related disease burden. Of all risk factors compared here, alcohol accounted for the greatest proportion of risk, followed by smoking."

The director of PAHO noted that "The principal measures proposed to respond to the mental health needs of the populations of the Americas are to integrate mental health into primary care, develop services in the community, and combat the stigma that mental disorders carry. Therefore, actions geared toward disseminating the knowledge that has been developed on mental illness should be encouraged. As is known, the most effective policies to prevent and control alcohol consumption in the Americans envision increasing the taxes on alcoholic beverages, reducing both the number of hours when and the number of places where alcohol can be sold, controlling advertising, and limiting who can buy alcoholic beverages. In addition, measures should be put into place to prevent people who are under the influence of alcohol from driving." The World Health Organization is dedicating International Human Rights Day Dec. 10 to people with mental disorders facing serious violations of their basic human rights. "People with mental disorders are some of the most neglected people in the world. In many communities, mental illness is not considered a real medical condition, but viewed as a weakness of character or as a punishment for immoral behavior. Even when people with mental disorders are recognized as having a medical condition, the treatment they receive is often less than humane, " WHO said.

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas, and serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Información adicional:
Special WHO Feature: Denied Citizens - Mental Health & Human Rights
Mental Health Page - World Health Organization
Mental Health Atlas 2005