The current state of mental healthcare in Bangladesh: part 1 - an updated country profile.



Hasan, M Tasdik ORCID: 0000-0002-3256-093X, Anwar, Tasnim, Christopher, Enryka, Hossain, Sahadat ORCID: 0000-0001-9433-202X, Hossain, Md Mahbub, Koly, Kamrun Nahar, Saif-Ur-Rahman, KM ORCID: 0000-0001-8702-7094, Ahmed, Helal Uddin, Arman, Nazish and Hossain, Saima Wazed
(2021) The current state of mental healthcare in Bangladesh: part 1 - an updated country profile. BJPsych international, 18 (4). pp. 78-82.

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Abstract

Mental health is a significant factor for a sound and productive life; nevertheless, mental disorders do not often receive adequate research attention and are not addressed as a serious public health issue in countries such as Bangladesh. Part 1 of this two-part profile describes the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh in its wider sociocultural context, outlining existing policies and highlighting mental illness as a neglected healthcare problem in the country using a narrative synthesis method. The prevalence of mental disorders is very high and augmented in nature among different population groups in Bangladesh. A lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled mental health professionals, insufficient financial resource distribution, inadequately stewarded mental health policies and stigma contribute to making current mental healthcare significantly inadequate in Bangladesh. The country has few community care facilities for psychiatric patients. Furthermore, the current mental health expenditure by the Bangladeshi government is only 0.44% of the total health budget. Less than 0.11% of the population has access to free essential psychotropic medications.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Bangladesh, Mental health, mental health policy, mental health system, priorities
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 22 Dec 2021 11:49
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 21:18
DOI: 10.1192/bji.2021.41
Open Access URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-in...
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3145872