About one in eight people in the world live with a mental disorder, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a landmark report released on June 17 calling for urgent action on transforming mental healthcare.

Even before the pandemic, in 2019, the number of people living with a mental disorder was nearly a billion, including 14 per cent of the world's adolescents, a number that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years.

In the first year of the pandemic alone, the rates of the already-common conditions such as depression and anxiety went up by more than 25 per cent. The WHO report revealed that on average, countries dedicate less than 2 per cent of their healthcare budgets to mental health.

As a result, just a small fraction of people in need get access to effective, affordable and quality mental health care. The report urges mental health decision-makers and advocates to step up commitment and action to change attitudes, actions and approaches to mental health, its determinants and mental health care.

"Everyone's life touches someone with a mental health condition. Investment into mental health is an investment into a better life and future for all," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement.

The report also called to end stigma, discrimination and human rights violations against people with mental health conditions, with 20 countries still criminalising attempted suicide. It noted that globally, there may be 20 suicide attempts to every one death, and yet suicide accounts for more than one in every 100 deaths. It is a major cause of death among young people.

Mental disorders are also the leading cause of years lived with disability (YLDs), accounting for one in every six YLDs globally. Schizophrenia, which occurs in approximately 1 in 200 adults, is a primary concern: in its acute states, it is the most impairing of all health conditions.

Besides affecting the quality of life, mental health conditions also have "enormous" economic consequences, with productivity losses significantly outstripping the direct costs of care, the report said.

"The inextricable links between mental health and public health, human rights and socio-economic development mean that transforming policy and practice in mental health can deliver real, substantive benefits for individuals, communities and countries everywhere," Ghebreyesus said. The report urges all countries to accelerate their implementation of the comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2030.

It makes several recommendations for action, including stepping up investments in mental health, reducing risks, building resilience and dismantling barriers that stop people with mental health conditions from participating fully in society, and diversifying and scaling up care options for all mental health conditions.