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Dear John,

We're shocked by the lack of good quality mental health support available to people around the world, and we think you should be too.

Up to 85% of people [[link removed]] with severe mental health conditions in the Global South receive no treatment for their condition.

Why? A lack of money to spend on health is one of the reasons. This is fuelled in part by decisions made by governments like ours. When governments in the Global North allow and enable global tax dodging by big corporations for example, countries miss out on vast sums in tax [[link removed]] which could be spent on public services.

Because spending on health is squeezed in many countries, mental health is often neglected within an already small budget. In some of the poorest countries, mental health often makes up less than 1% of health spending [[link removed]].

On top of this, the poverty and inequality that people face in the Global South create even more barriers to good mental health and wellbeing. Struggling to afford food for your family, or facing discrimination, is likely to make anyone far more vulnerable to poor mental health. If we want to truly address mental health anywhere in the world, in the Global North [[link removed]] or the Global South, we can't brush this under the carpet.

Aside from tackling the problem of funding for mental health services, there's another solution which Health Poverty Action is working on. Mental healthcare, like all healthcare, works better if it's culturally appropriate.

Increasing the capacity of mental health support by training community members locally means it's more likely to work. Providing care through Community Health Workers (members of the community who act as local health champions), in the Global South has seen some real successes and shown great potential [[link removed](20)30235-2/fulltext].

It's time that culturally appropriate mental health support is properly incorporated into health services around the world. And we must recognise that as long as countries in the Global South are still being treated unfairly economically, the physical and mental wellbeing of the people in those countries will suffer.

You can read more about mental health in our Universal Health Coverage Day blog [[link removed]]. You can also learn more about what Health Poverty Action is doing to support communities coming together for mental health here [[link removed]].

Best wishes,

Sarah Cowen-Rivers, Communications Manager

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Our postal address is Health Poverty Action, Ground Floor, 31-33 Bondway, London, SW8 1SJ.

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