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According to the Global Burden of Disease estimates, 25% of the world’s population suffer from mental or behavioral disorders at some stage during their lives. Mental and neurological disorders account for 12.3% of the total Disability Adjusted Life Years and for 30.8% of Years Lived with a Disability. The social and economic costs are high. The various dimensions of poverty – lack of income, ill health, poor nutrition and poor education – are both causes of and results of mental disorders.

Despite this, mental health issues are largely absent from the development debate. Good mental health is not a Millennium Development Goal, it is rarely mentioned in the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers which outline poor countries policies and priorities. At country level, only 62.1% of the world’s countries have a mental health policy. 62% of low income countries spend less than 1% of their health budgets on mental health. National mental health programs, disability benefits, substance abuse policies and specified budgets for mental health are often absent. Furthermore, research into mental health issues in developing countries is limited – a limitation that this special issue seeks to address.

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