More than nine in 10 people in Bangladesh with mental health conditions do not receive treatment, with stigma, inadequate investment and limited access to specialized services contributing to a persistent treatment gap, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO’s 2025 report, Prevention and management of mental health conditions in Bangladesh: A case for investment, puts the treatment gap at approximately 92% among adults and 95% among children and adolescents.
These estimates are based on the National Mental Health Survey conducted in 2018-19, the latest nationally representative survey cited in the report.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh observes World Mental Health Day on Friday under the theme “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,” which calls for people with lived experience of mental health conditions to help shape the policies and services that affect them.
The 2018-19 survey found that 16.8% of adults and 13.6% of children aged 7-17 had mental health conditions. Among those affected, 92.3% of adults and 94.5% of children had not received treatment.
The findings highlight the scale of the challenge, although they do not represent a new assessment of the country’s mental health situation in 2026.
The WHO’s 2025 report also identifies inadequate financing, a shortage of specialized professionals, limited access to services and medicines, and social stigma as major barriers to care.
According to the report, mental health accounted for just 0.44% of Bangladesh’s total health budget in 2021. Of this expenditure, 67% went to mental hospitals, highlighting the concentration of resources in institutional care rather than prevention and community-based services.
The report estimates that mental, neurological and substance-use conditions cost Bangladesh Tk210.5 billion in 2021, equivalent to around 0.76% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The economic burden includes lost productivity, reduced workforce participation, disability and premature death.
Bangladesh had 260 psychiatrists, or approximately 0.16 per 100,000 people, according to the WHO report.
Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses were concentrated in and around Dhaka at about five times the rate found in the rest of the country, highlighting the geographic disparity in access to specialized care.
The report identified 69 outpatient and 72 residential mental health facilities nationwide, while noting the absence of community follow-up and day-treatment facilities.
The shortage of accessible services makes regular mental health care difficult for many people outside major cities, particularly those unable to afford private treatment or travel long distances to consult specialists.
In 2025, a WHO-supported programme in Bangladesh provided more than 20,000 mental health consultations, trained 846 non-specialist healthcare providers and conducted 81 supportive supervision visits.
These figures relate specifically to the WHO-supported programme and should not be interpreted as nationwide totals.
The WHO recommends expanding community-based care, integrating mental health services into primary healthcare, strengthening referral systems and medicine supplies, increasing the number of trained professionals, and investing in prevention and early intervention.
The United Nations has also called for mental health systems that respect people’s rights and involve them in decisions about their care.
In his message for World Mental Health Day 2026, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to “replace exclusion with partnership, and invest in community-centered care.”
“On this day, and every day, let us reaffirm our commitment to mental health, remove stigma and build systems rooted in dignity and rights for all,” he said.
The WHO has echoed the call, urging countries to go beyond simply listening to people with lived experience and ensure they have a meaningful role in shaping mental health policies, services and decisions.
