In February 2020, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted a joint mission to the Philippines in collaboration with the UN Taskforce on Non-Communicable Diseases. Other experts were from Deakin University (Australia), the Center for Healthcare Quality Assessment and Control of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry, with the Philippines Ministry of Health, including the chair of the Philippines Council for Mental Health. The process brought together experts from various UN agencies, local governmental bodies, state departments, parliamentarians and civil society organisations, as well as other national and international stakeholders.
The mission objective was to begin data collection towards establishing an investment case that identifies for the Philippines their “best buys” for mental health. After the mission a contextual desk analysis has been underway to complete financial analyses, which will be validated with the meeting participants.
The culmination of this work will be an investment case report. The report will outline the financial and social burdens of mental health conditions in the Philippines; and it will identify the cost-effectiveness and other benefits for policy packages (“best buys”) as the Philippines works towards mental health system reform. The report will conclude with actionable steps the government can take to strengthen a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to mental health and will guide implementation priorities for the WHO Special Initiative in the Philippines.