Countries across the world, including Bangladesh, will observe World Mental Health Day Sunday, at a time when there has been a "worldwide failure to provide people with the mental health services they need as the Covid-19 pandemic is highlighting a growing need for mental health support."

The day is observed every year on October 10 across the world for raising awareness about mental health.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the eve of World Mental Health Day 2021 whose theme is "Mental Health in an Unequal World."

"Mental health problems have significantly increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic," President Hamid said. He stressed the need for family and social support for patients with mental health issues along with treatment.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the development of mental health alongside physical health is vital for building a happy and prosperous nation. She directed the concerned authorities to work in a way that mental health services can be brought to the doorsteps of people.

Read: World misses most 2020 mental health targets: WHO

'World misses most 2020 mental health targets'

The UN health agency's new Mental Health Atlas paints a disappointing picture of a worldwide failure to provide people with the mental health services they need, at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is highlighting a growing need for mental health support.

The latest edition of the Atlas, which includes data from 171 countries, provides a clear indication that the increased attention given to mental health in recent years has yet to result in a scale-up of quality mental services that are aligned with needs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday.

It is extremely concerning that, despite the evident and increasing need for mental health services, which has become even more acute during the Covid-19 pandemic, good intentions are not being met with investment," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.

"We must heed and act on this wake-up call and dramatically accelerate the scale-up of investment in mental health because there is no health without mental health."

Read: UNICEF: Battered by pandemic, kids need mental health help

Lack of progress in leadership, governance and financing

None of the targets for effective leadership and governance for mental health, provision of mental health services in community-based settings, mental health promotion and prevention, and strengthening of information systems, was close to being achieved.

In 2020, just 51 per cent of the WHO's 194 member states reported that their mental health policy or plan was in line with international and regional human rights instruments, way short of the 80 per cent target.

And only 52 per cent of countries met the target relating to mental health promotion and prevention programmes, also well below the 80 per cent target.

The only 2020 target met was a reduction in the rate of suicide by 10 per cent, but even then, only 35 countries said they had a stand-alone prevention strategy, policy or plan.

The percentage of government health budgets spent on mental health has scarcely changed during the last years, still hovering around 2 per cent.

Moreover, even when policies and plans included estimates of required human and financial resources, just 39 per cent of responding countries indicated that the necessary human resources had been allocated and 34 per cent that the required financial resources had been provided.