Five per cent of UAE population battling depression

Speaking during the third Global Expert Meeting on Brain Diseases, which was held in the Capital on Friday, Dr Raouf named the eight government medical facilities across the country, six of which provide a total of 405 beds.   “The Behavioural Pavilion at SKMC is the main and the largest mental health facility in the UAE with 123 beds,” said Dr Raouf.

He noted that total outpatients at the hospital, including new cases and follow-ups, currently stands at 27,322 and 1,254 inpatient admissions. The staff of the Behavioural Pavilion comprises 139 medical personnel that include psychologists, consultants, specialists, occupational therapist, social workers and nurses. 

Other facilities in the emirate include the Al Ain Hospital (33 beds), National Rehabilitation Centre (86 beds), the Zayed Military Hospital and the Abu Dhabi Police. Rashid Hospital (46 beds) and Al Amal Psychiatry Hospital (85 beds) in Dubai; and Saif bin Ghobash Hospital (32) in Ras Al Khaimah.

“The main providers of inpatient services are governmental (facilities) and almost all private services (are provided) in outpatient clinics,” he pointed out.

The one-day conference was attended by more than 200 psychiatrists from across the Middle East and the Arab world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the global disease burden, with about 200 million workdays lost to depression each year in the US alone.

UAE figures suggest that four to five per cent of the population suffer from clinical depression, while in Qatar as many as one in five people are affected by mental health issues at any point in time.

The WHO estimates that fewer than 25 per cent of patients with depression have access to appropriate treatment options, and existing treatments — including currently available anti-depressants — are not always effective even when properly prescribed.

“The prevalence of depression worldwide is extremely high and depression is a burden on patients’ health and on the economy. Mental health is an important issue for us all and one that needs to be constantly revisited,” remarked Dr Tarek Darwish, consultant psychiatrist at SKMC.

“The serious health and economic implications of depression and mental health issues are still not fully recognised and responses remain inadequate. There is an urgent need for public health and employment policies to give higher priority to mental health issues and to raise awareness of this. Mental health problems generate huge costs not only for healthcare systems but for society more generally,” said Emad Wageeh, regional marketing director for Lundbeck, the organiser of the conference.

The European Brain Council estimated that the total annual tangible cost of depression in Europe was 92 billion Euros in 2010. Depression is the most costly brain disorder, with a cost equal to 1 per cent of EU GDP. -olivia@khaleejtimes.com