India’s mental health crisis is severely underfunded, despite attempts by philanthropic and private sector resources to bridge the gap. 

A study published by the Centre for Asian Philanthropy India (CAPI), named ‘Mindful Investments: Philanthropy for Mental Health in India’ reports that donors increasingly focus on initiatives that prevent and mitigate the stigma of mental health.  

A combination of stigma, limited understanding about mental health and the high cost of treatment has resulted in a ‘treatment gap’ of 70-92 per cent of cases. The mental health crisis in India is impacting development goals, the report finds. 

Public spending on mental health is limited to merely 1 per cent of the overall health budget.  

Philanthropic funding has increased particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. 

However, relatively few donors and grant makers focus on mental health care at community level. Such programmes deliver care in villages and local level, through local-based counsellers within communities.  

The report highlights that community mental health care programmes are low-cost, effective options to support. They help reduce the burden on centralised specialists by using ordinary counsellers or volunteers who can carry out non-specialist duties such as referrals.  

Shafi Musaddique is the news editor at Alliance Magazine.