Mind to Mind Myanmar
mental health matters
How things were
The status quo
According to the WHO-AIMS (World Health Organisation - Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems) Report 2006, Myanmar’s estimated population in 2005-2006 was 55.4 millions.
At the time of the report, mental health expenditure was 0.3% of total health care expenditure. The ratios of professionals per 100,000 population were 0.016 for psychiatrists, 0.2 for other medical doctors, 0.23 for nurses, 0.01 for psychologists, 0.04 for social works and 0.002 for occupational therapists.
The WHO Health System Financing Report 2010 stated that Myanmar's GDP was $871 per capita. The government spent $17 per capita on health and 81% of health care cost was funded by the households.
Combined that with the data from the WHO-AIMS Report in 2006, it is reasonale to assume that $0.51 per capita was spent in mental health care.
Non-acute or non-communicable diseases such as mental illness are placed low on the people's list of competing priorities for their survival. As a consequence, patients with mental illness do not seek help and as such they miss out the opportunity to reach their potential in life.
There is no health economic data to highlight how much productivity is lost by people with untreated/ undertreated mental illness and through the burden to their families.
For more information on WHO -AIMS report 2006, please click on this link for the full report.