Published: 16 August 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health challenges worldwide, yet only 0.1% of global development assistance for health goes towards youth mental health - £1 in every £1,000.
The NIHR has teamed up with partners in the Global Mental Health Program to launch the first cohort of 18 seed projects to address mental health literacy, and provide youth-friendly services for under-served young people aged 10 to 24, in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
The 18 innovative projects will enhance community-based mental health care for young people in 14 countries: India, Uganda, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Kenya, Colombia, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Cameroon, Nigeria and Rwanda.
The programme is a partnership of the Department of Health and Social Care (using UK Aid through NIHR), Global Affairs Canada and Grand Challenges Canada. Successful projects will serve as models that can be replicated, scaled, or provide lessons for other low-resource settings. 75% of all mental health conditions begin before the age of 24, and 80% of people with mental health challenges live in LMICs.
Young people in the affected countries helped to shape the programme, and have been involved in the review process. The Honourable Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of International Development, said: “Poor mental health negatively impacts the social connections, sense of cultural belonging and emotional wellbeing in youth. It creates hardship by hindering access to educational opportunities and economic resources. That’s why Canada continues to be an international champion for mental health and wellbeing, including for youth. We recognise that strong partnerships like the ones we have through GCC’s Global Mental Health Program are critical to addressing health issues and scaling up mental health and social services globally.”
Dr. Val Snewin, Head of Global Health Research Partnerships at DHSC, added: “The DHSC Global Health Research team is delighted to be working with Global Affairs Canada to support Grand Challenges Canada and this innovative programme. Mental health, particularly among young people, is an underserved research area and a huge need globally, especially in low and middle income countries. The diverse seed projects receiving funding are each exciting initiatives in their own right, and have the potential for strengthening communities' capacity for learning, cross-fertilisation and scale up of successful interventions in future.”
Jocelyn Mackie, Co-CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, further added: “Grand Challenges Canada is proud to host one of the largest portfolios of Global Mental Health innovation in the world, contributing $55.8 million CAD in 123 projects in 40 countries since 2011, along with providing them platform and accelerator support. Our focus is to support innovators who are closest to the world’s health challenges because they have the knowledge and are best positioned to develop lasting solutions. Case in point, 44% of the selected organisations are led by youth who are best situated to come up with high-impact solutions.”
Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health program focuses on funding high impact innovations that improve treatments and/or expand access to care for people, especially youth, living with or at risk of mental disorder.
Projects funded under this programme include:
Kumekucha (New Dawn) in Kenya is a community-led social cohesion program and presents the key concepts of trauma, coping mechanisms, forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, resiliency, and ‘dealing with the past, incorporating Kenyan cultural stories and artwork.
Sense International India is the only national-level organisation supporting needs-based services to enable children and adults with deafblindness to overcome the challenges caused by deafblindness.
Sembe World is increasing the provision of youth-friendly mental health services in communities in northern Cameroon affected by Boko Haram violence, by establishing psychosocial support networks of community leaders trained in mental health promotion, screening for common mental health disorders, and providing lay counseling and referrals.
Find out more about the partnership on the Grand Challenges Canada website.
Earlier this month the NIHR announced £30 million investment to rebalance the scale of mental health research. Since its inception, the NIHR has supported 751 research studies in mental health, which have helped highlight the impact of high-quality research on communities and individuals affected by mental health problems and associated conditions.