Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas

Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 3, Issue 4)

Received: 23 May 2015 Accepted: 6 June 2015 Published: 25 June 2015

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Abstract

Mental Health constitutes a major public health challenge undermining the social and economic development throughout much of the developing world. It is estimated that mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease (WHO 2008). However, in most developing countries mental health remains utterly neglected by the health system. In Bangladesh, for example, a meager 0.5% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. On the other hand, as more than 65% of the total expenditure on health is out-of-pocket expenses, mental illness takes a heavy toll on the poor and the disadvantaged Based on a review of secondary data, the paper assesses the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh. The paper suggests that mental health care system in Bangladesh faces multifaceted challenges such as lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled workforce, inadequate financial resource allocation and social stigma. Bangladesh still does not have a comprehensive mental health policy to strengthen the entire health system. Clearly, the most crucial challenge is the absence of a dynamic and proactive stewardship able to design and enforce policies to further strengthen and enhance the overall mental health care. Such strong leadership could bring about meaningful and effective health sector reform, which will work more efficiently for the betterment of the health and social and emotional wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, and would be built upon the values of equity and accountability.

Published in	American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
Page(s)	57-62
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mental Health, Health Care System, Situation Analysis

References

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APA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. (2015). Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 3(4), 57-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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ACS Style

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas. Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2015, 3(4), 57-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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AMA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2015;3(4):57-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11,
  author = {Anwar Islam and Tuhin Biswas},
  title = {Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain},
  journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {57-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  abstract = {Mental Health constitutes a major public health challenge undermining the social and economic development throughout much of the developing world. It is estimated that mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease (WHO 2008). However, in most developing countries mental health remains utterly neglected by the health system. In Bangladesh, for example, a meager 0.5% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. On the other hand, as more than 65% of the total expenditure on health is out-of-pocket expenses, mental illness takes a heavy toll on the poor and the disadvantaged Based on a review of secondary data, the paper assesses the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh. The paper suggests that mental health care system in Bangladesh faces multifaceted challenges such as lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled workforce, inadequate financial resource allocation and social stigma. Bangladesh still does not have a comprehensive mental health policy to strengthen the entire health system. Clearly, the most crucial challenge is the absence of a dynamic and proactive stewardship able to design and enforce policies to further strengthen and enhance the overall mental health care. Such strong leadership could bring about meaningful and effective health sector reform, which will work more efficiently for the betterment of the health and social and emotional wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, and would be built upon the values of equity and accountability.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain
AU  - Anwar Islam
AU  - Tuhin Biswas
Y1  - 2015/06/25
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
SP  - 57
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-426X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
AB  - Mental Health constitutes a major public health challenge undermining the social and economic development throughout much of the developing world. It is estimated that mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease (WHO 2008). However, in most developing countries mental health remains utterly neglected by the health system. In Bangladesh, for example, a meager 0.5% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. On the other hand, as more than 65% of the total expenditure on health is out-of-pocket expenses, mental illness takes a heavy toll on the poor and the disadvantaged Based on a review of secondary data, the paper assesses the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh. The paper suggests that mental health care system in Bangladesh faces multifaceted challenges such as lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled workforce, inadequate financial resource allocation and social stigma. Bangladesh still does not have a comprehensive mental health policy to strengthen the entire health system. Clearly, the most crucial challenge is the absence of a dynamic and proactive stewardship able to design and enforce policies to further strengthen and enhance the overall mental health care. Such strong leadership could bring about meaningful and effective health sector reform, which will work more efficiently for the betterment of the health and social and emotional wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, and would be built upon the values of equity and accountability.
VL  - 3
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Author Information

Anwar Islam

School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Canada
Tuhin Biswas

Department of Public Health, North south University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. (2015). Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 3(4), 57-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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ACS Style

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas. Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2015, 3(4), 57-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

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AMA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2015;3(4):57-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11,
  author = {Anwar Islam and Tuhin Biswas},
  title = {Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain},
  journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {57-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20150304.11},
  abstract = {Mental Health constitutes a major public health challenge undermining the social and economic development throughout much of the developing world. It is estimated that mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease (WHO 2008). However, in most developing countries mental health remains utterly neglected by the health system. In Bangladesh, for example, a meager 0.5% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. On the other hand, as more than 65% of the total expenditure on health is out-of-pocket expenses, mental illness takes a heavy toll on the poor and the disadvantaged Based on a review of secondary data, the paper assesses the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh. The paper suggests that mental health care system in Bangladesh faces multifaceted challenges such as lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled workforce, inadequate financial resource allocation and social stigma. Bangladesh still does not have a comprehensive mental health policy to strengthen the entire health system. Clearly, the most crucial challenge is the absence of a dynamic and proactive stewardship able to design and enforce policies to further strengthen and enhance the overall mental health care. Such strong leadership could bring about meaningful and effective health sector reform, which will work more efficiently for the betterment of the health and social and emotional wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, and would be built upon the values of equity and accountability.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Mental Health and the Health System in Bangladesh: Situation Analysis of a Neglected Domain
AU  - Anwar Islam
AU  - Tuhin Biswas
Y1  - 2015/06/25
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
SP  - 57
EP  - 62
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-426X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20150304.11
AB  - Mental Health constitutes a major public health challenge undermining the social and economic development throughout much of the developing world. It is estimated that mental disorders account for 13% of the global burden of disease (WHO 2008). However, in most developing countries mental health remains utterly neglected by the health system. In Bangladesh, for example, a meager 0.5% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. On the other hand, as more than 65% of the total expenditure on health is out-of-pocket expenses, mental illness takes a heavy toll on the poor and the disadvantaged Based on a review of secondary data, the paper assesses the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh. The paper suggests that mental health care system in Bangladesh faces multifaceted challenges such as lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled workforce, inadequate financial resource allocation and social stigma. Bangladesh still does not have a comprehensive mental health policy to strengthen the entire health system. Clearly, the most crucial challenge is the absence of a dynamic and proactive stewardship able to design and enforce policies to further strengthen and enhance the overall mental health care. Such strong leadership could bring about meaningful and effective health sector reform, which will work more efficiently for the betterment of the health and social and emotional wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh, and would be built upon the values of equity and accountability.
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
ER  -

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