Mental Health: Five Successes We Need to Celebrate

Poor mental health is a challenge that four in five of us will experience for ourselves, and all of us are likely to experience it through our families, friends and colleagues. United for Global Mental Health and the American Friends of UnitedGMH have played a leading role in bringing this issue to the forefront of discussions internationally. In the past five years, we have seen a huge rise in public discussions, awareness and an openness to tackling and managing this issue globally and locally. 

Although stigma and discrimination against those experiencing poor mental health remain rife, and public health services and standards of care remain poor to non-existent for large sections of the population, progress is being made. We must acknowledge and celebrate this progress to encourage and drive action towards better mental health for all.

Here are five successes we need to celebrate:

• Mental health is on the global agenda. Dedicated campaigning over the past decade, led particularly by people with lived experience and youth, has led to governments and international organisations discussing what action they want to take on mental health, and the issue is now firmly on the global agenda. In the past two years alone, there has been a United Nations Security Council resolution, a UN General Assembly resolution and a World Health Assembly resolution on mental health. These important policy milestones can help drive changes at the country level. We are pleased that mental health will be included in next year’s UN High-Level Meeting 2025 on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health (learn more here. We must sustain this progress and broaden its impact to ensure that mental health is integral to sustainable development initiatives.
• Countries are updating their mental health laws and decriminalising suicide. Historically, the stigma and discrimination experienced by those with poor mental health were hard-wired in outdated, discriminatory laws. Today that is changing. One by one, countries are updating their laws and re-examining their policies. UnitedGMH has worked with partners in a range of countries, including Pakistan and Ghana, to secure the decriminalisation of suicide. The successful campaigns to change laws and tackle stigma serve as beacons of hope and inspiration. In the Ghanaian parliament, it was acknowledged that discussions with international campaigners on legal changes and their implications inspired local stakeholders to drive reforms. The work can’t stop here. We need all countries to have up-to-date laws in line with human rights, norms and standards.  Learn more here:
• International donors are integrating mental health into their strategies. UnitedGMH has reported a $200 billion global investment gap in mental health. Most people pay for all or most of their mental health care themselves or through informal caring and may have little or no choice in what sort of care they can receive. This care can be prohibitively expensive and needs to be more focused on a rights-based approach, particularly in Lower Middle-Income Countries. We are delighted to see progress on many fronts: 

• WHO has invested in the Special Initiative for Mental Health to address this service and treatment gap and move people with these conditions towards universal health coverage. 

• USAID has launched its first mental health position paper on integrating mental health into Agency programs, which is an important step in supporting initiatives that increase access to mental health services. 

• UnitedGMH helped persuade the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to fully integrate mental health throughout its most recent strategy (2023-28). The Global Fund is now accepting funding proposals integrating mental health into HIV and TB prevention and care. 

• The Wellcome Trust is spending at least £1 billion in the decade to 2032 on research that will improve mental health. More donors – multilaterals, bilaterals, trusts, foundations and individual philanthropists – must join this effort. We must continue to drive this change, push more donors to integrate mental health into their programming systematically and support country-led action based on the inputs of People with Lived Experience. Learn more here:

• Innovative solutions are being found. Addressing mental health needs is complex: each person and their needs are different. Thanks to many organisations worldwide, new ideas are being developed, and people are supported through everything from sports to technology. UnitedGMH is helping to unite this global community by serving as a secretariat for the Global Mental Health Action Network. The Network is a growing community of over 4,000 members from over 150 countries. Through this Network, members learn and support one another, discover what works and needs to be done, and build momentum to usher in changes needed for good mental health for all and a more equitable global mental health sector. Members include a wide range of organisations and individuals, many with their own lived experience; they are thought leaders and change-makers,  those with global outreach skills and those with a community focus,  they are planners, implementers,  researchers and activists. UnitedGMH will support and grow this Network as its secretariat to promote shared learning and collaboration. Learn more here:

• Young people are leading the way. Today, mental health is a topic that young people are demanding to be addressed. Children and adolescents are frequently missing out on essential support when they need it most. Despite 75% of all mental health conditions beginning before the age of 24 years, few mental health budgets and facilities offer child and adolescent support. However, UnitedGMH is supporting young people, and organisations committed to addressing young people’s mental health needs. Global Mental Health Action Network members (and UnitedGMH partners), including #MentalHealthPH, Taskeen, Vertentes, Teenergizer, Batyr, and Waves for Change, are among those working hard to address child and youth needs through innovative campaigns and programmes. The Being initiative that UnitedGMH helped to develop and with whom we continue to partner is among the world’s largest youth mental health funds. Learn more here: 

In the five years we have been part of the journey of UnitedGMH, the organisation has grown and evolved. Today, the team is based across three continents, 12 countries and 16 cultures. The future of global mental health needs to be rooted in this diversity. We need organisations addressing mental health to be more global – in outlook, personnel and action – and in the resources dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world. We all remain committed to achieving the vision of a world where everyone, everywhere, has access to mental health support, free of stigma or restrictions.