Abstract

Globally, during the last three decades, mental health has played significant role in regards to the discourse of global health policy. Since two decades ago, WHO has firmly defined health as a rounded state of condition where an individual reaches “…not merely absence of the illness, but also achieves physical, mental and social well-being.” WHO’s definition of health implies a significant impact on global health policy – all member of states should adhere their health policy to this definition. The Global Burden of Disease study carried out by WHO in 2012 that mapped out the burden of disease around the world revealed an appalling fact namely worsened mental health condition. Years lost due to disability (YLD) study mentioned that 6 out to 20 diseases that were most responsible in causing disability were mental illnesses. Therefore, this article aimed to describe the mental illness prevalence in global and national level by reviewing several mental illness epidemiological studies. Additionally, this article highlighted some of important challenges that should be considered by healthcare service providers and policymakers in tackling mental health issues, which are treatment gap and mental health stigma.