Developmental assistance for child and adolescent mental health in low– and middle–income countries (2007–2014): annual trends and allocation by sector, project type, donors and recipients
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Edinburgh University Global Health Society
Abstract
Background: Globally, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability
among children and adolescents. To date, there has been no estimate of
developmental assistance supporting mental health projects that target children
and adolescents (DAMH–CA). This study aimed to identify, describe
and analyse DAMH–CA with respect to annual trends (2007–2014), sector,
project type, recipient regions, and top donor and recipient countries,
and estimate annual DAMH–CA per child/adolescent by region.
Methods: Developmental assistance for all projects focused on children and
adolescent mental health between 2007 and 2014 was identified on the
Organisation for Economic Co–operation and Development’s (OECD)
Creditor Reporting System, and analysed by target population, sector, project
type, donors, and recipients. The study did not include governmental
or private organisation funds, nor funding for projects that targeted the
community or those that included mental health but not as a primary objective.
Results: Between 2007 and 2014, 704 projects were identified, constituting
US$ 88.35 million in DAMH–CA, with an average of 16.9% of annual
development assistance for mental health. Three quarters of DAMH–CA
was used to fund projects in the humanitarian sector, while less than 10%
was directed at mental health projects within the education, HIV/AIDS,
rights, and neurology sectors. DAMH–CA was predominantly invested in
psychosocial support projects (US$ 63.24 million, 72%), while little in absolute
and relative terms supported capacity building, prevention, promotion
or research, with the latter receiving just US$ 1.2 million over the eight
years (1.4% of total DAMH–CA). For 2014, DAMH–CA per child/adolescent
was US$ 0.02 in Europe, less than US$ 0.01 in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America and the Caribbean, and US$ 0 in Oceania.
Conclusions: To mitigate the growing burden of mental and neurological
disorders, increased financial aid must be invested in child and adolescent
mental health, especially with respect to capacity building, research and
prevention of mental disorder projects. The present findings can be used
to inform policy development and guide resource allocation, as current
developmental assistance is described by sector and project type, thereby
facilitating the identification of specific areas of investment need.
Description
CITATION: Turner, J., et al. 2017. Developmental assistance for child and adolescent mental health in low– and middle–income countries (2007–2014) : annual trends and allocation by sector, project type, donors and recipients. Journal of Global Health, 7(2):020901, doi:10.7189/jogh.07.020901.
The original publication is available at http://jogh.org
The original publication is available at http://jogh.org
Keywords
Mental disorders, Child mental health, Disabilities -- Children, Children with disabilities -- Development
Citation
Turner, J., et al. 2017. Developmental assistance for child and adolescent mental health in low– and middle–income countries (2007–2014) : annual trends and allocation by sector, project type, donors and recipients. Journal of Global Health, 7(2):020901, doi:10.7189/jogh.07.020901