More than 40% of adults have mental health problems. The country invests nine times less than its peers in the region.
It doesn’t show up on an x-ray, it doesn’t leave visible marks like a broken leg or a scar, but the mental diseases affect more and more people. The subject is still immersed in a kind of social taboo and in political terms it does not give votes.
In Latin America, the investment per capita in mental health it averages just $13.8 a year; but in Ecuador the figure reaches only $1.5 per year, that is, in total, $25.26 million.
In other words, nine times less is spent in the country than in the rest of the region, despite the fact that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), psychological disorders constitute a silent pandemic.
That pandemic if it is not attacked with more access to treatments and less social stigma, constitutes a bad deal for the economy of the countries.
Less mental health, less work productivity
According to the World Economic Forum, not receiving the attention necessary means less labor productivity, more spending on diseases related, and even less income and quality of life for the same person.
“Not being able to access a good psychological or psychiatric treatment it can reduce income by up to 30% during working life and unleash various family and social conflicts”, says a study by that institution.
In addition, countries like Ecuador, with very low investment in mental healthend up spending more for problems related to patients with alcoholism, violence, physical illnesses aggravated by monthly ailments, suicidesamong others.
Depression is not taken into account
Ana Carolina Olmos, a clinical psychologist, commented that, according to the latest estimates from international organizations, more than 40% of Ecuadorian adults have disorders mental healthwhich include depression, different degrees of anxiety, phobias, eating disorders, among others.
“Investment should start with children and youth. The treatment and early diagnosis prevents ailments from worsening over the years and ending in suicides, like the recent one of a man in Guayaquil”, narrowed down
Not even private insurance covers mental health
A psychological or psychiatric consultation costs an average of $40, without taking into account drugs and other expenses. The treatments are usually long, so a significant investment of the monthly budget of the person or family is needed.
In the public system, the options are scarce and have never been part of the priorities in services. On the other hand, private insurance they do not contemplate mental illnesses within their coverage.
Andrés Castro, 30, commented that multiple situations over a long time caused him to develop a s . Failure to treat on time caused him to lose job opportunities and caused other health problems.
“The expense, between medicines and appointments with specialists, can exceed $200 a month. This value represents a significant percentage of the income of any average employee in the country. I know many cases that stopped being treated, due to lack of time, money and even social prejudice. When you see them it seems that everything is fine, but the procession goes inside, ”she pointed out.
Prevention costs less
spending on mental healthFrom the prevention and information side, children and adolescents could cost $70 million a year. That amount is much less than the losses of more than $200 million annually than the consequences that come from the lack of care and access to treatment in adults.
Those $200 million do not include the effects of the psychological and psychiatric disorders in unemployment and labor absenteeism, so the damages of not investing in prevention can be duplicated.
Antonio Ledesma, an economist, pointed out that it will always be the best investment to dedicate resources to people’s health, both mental and physical.
“That is one of the bases to have a more productive labor force, and even one that consumes more within the economy. When evaluating the quality of public spending It should be taken into account that each dollar in health yields three times more if it is used where it is most needed”, he concluded. (JS)
Los problemas de salud mental afectan a más de 300 millones de personas en América Latina.
La prevención en salud mental podría costar $70 millones anuales.
$200 millones anuales se pierden por falta de atención y de acceso a tratamientos en los adultos con problemas psicológicos y psiquiátricos.
