A global revolution in funding mental health care is coming

The conversation about the mental health crisis is loud, but at a standstill. Stuck on repeat around the challenges of accessing existing treatments, the situation can appear increasingly hopeless. 

I see another future — one far more positive and exciting. We are on the cusp of a revolution in mental health science. In five years’ time, the mental health treatment landscape will look radically different. We need funding to keep up with innovation.

As mental health director at Wellcome, one of the largest nongovernmental funders of research in the world, I see scientific discoveries and technological advances sparking a wave of new therapies and solutions to transform people’s lives on a global scale. 

The first new pharmacological approach for schizophrenia in more than 50 years, Cobenfy, has just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It works in a completely different way from any other currently used schizophrenia drugs and has the potential to change the lives of millions of people. Virtual reality is being used in a novel avatar treatment to help people stand up to highly distressing voices that are undermining their mental health. The latest neuroscience findings in relation to sleep and exercise are laying the foundations for new interventions for young people with depression and anxiety. The Friendship Bench approach, developed in Zimbabwe, is training people in the community such as grandmothers to provide mental health support.

These are just a few examples of the innovations that are emerging that Wellcome supports and promise a brighter future for treating and managing mental health.

What keeps me awake at night is how we can get these solutions out at scale and in an equitable way to the almost one billion people that need them across the world. 

The global health community is starting to find ways to rise to this challenge. A key part of the solution is to address lack of funding. There is an annual financing gap of more than $200 billion from government spend on mental health around the world, according to NGO United for Global Health.   

To help bridge the gap between the fast-paced scientific developments in mental health and the lack of investment, Welcome co-founded the Coalition for Mental Health Investment (CMHI). Together with our partners, the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance, Clinton Global Initiative, Kokoro, and McKinsey Health Institute, we are convening funders and experts to help drive investment in mental health at scale, allowing for the fast tracking of innovative solutions. We aim to change the conversation on mental health, but this is more than a talking shop. Drawing on the latest evidence in science and finance, we will push public funders, investors, philanthropists, and experts to find ways to bridge profit, risk, and equity.

There are huge opportunities here for investment from all sections of society — the public sector, philanthropies, and private investors — but there will also be hurdles to navigate along the way. 

Turning mental health science breakthroughs into products for those who need them most is not a straightforward task. It needs clinical, technical, and lived-experience expertise, alongside substantial financial investment. Balancing a demand for innovation with a demand for equitable access is a challenge that will have to be collectively solved.

In the business of health care, mental health is not a priority. Recognition by policymakers will be key to open up investment — for early intervention and treatment.

The good news is that the private sector is increasingly recognizing that mental health should not be seen as separate from the rest of health. The global mental health market reached $419 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $500 billion by 2028. In 2021 alone, nine mental health reached unicorn status by reaching valuations of more than $1 billion.