Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Out of the Shadows: Using Human Rights Approaches to Secure Dignity and Well-Being for People with Mental Disabilities Article in PLoS Medicine - "Mental health is perhaps the most neglected area of health policy and programming. According to the 2001 World Health Report, “some 450 million people suffer from a mental or behavioral disorder, yet only a small minority of them receive even the most basic treatment”. More than 40% of countries have no mental health policy and over 30% have no mental health program. Over 90% of countries have no mental health policy that includes children and adolescents. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental and behavioral disorders are estimated to account for 12% of the global burden of disease, yet the mental health budgets of the majority of countries constitute less than 1% of their total health expenditures. The relationship between disease burden and disease spending is clearly disproportionate. Those few who do receive services often fare just as badly..."  
  

Uninsured Americans with Chronic Health Conditions: Key Findings from the National Health Interview Survey 24 page report in Adobe Acrobat format - "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) commissioned researchers Amy Davidoff of the Department of Public Policy of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Genevieve Kenney, of the Health Policy Center at The Urban Institute, to document the prevalence and impact of selected chronic health conditions among the uninsured.1 Using the most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the researchers quantified the number of uninsured adults with chronic conditions, overall and by race and ethnicity, and examined whether they experience gaps in their access to care. Researchers further examined access problems faced by uninsured adults with different chronic health problems. The results are startling..."