Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain’s disclosure that over 92% of people with mental health conditions in Bangladesh receive no treatment is not only alarming but confirms what families, teachers, and frontline health workers have been witnessing for years.
Awareness for mental health is rising, and such official recognition of the crisis is welcome. With that said, recognition without action changes nothing.
The data presented in Parliament paints a stark picture: Bangladesh has only 1.17 mental health professionals per 100,000 people, and just 350 public‑sector psychiatrists nationwide. Meanwhile, 16.8% of adults and 12.6% of children and adolescents suffer from some form of mental disorder.
This gap should be recognized for what it is, a national health emergency. Untreated mental illness fuels long‑term disability, reduces productivity, increases suicide risk, and deepens social inequality.
To that end, the government’s plan to recruit 100,000 health workers is certainly a positive step, but unless mental health is integrated meaningfully into that expansion, the treatment gap will persist.
Most people seek help first at local clinics. As such, it is important to train primary‑level physicians, nurses, and health workers. Specialized institutions also cannot serve the entire country, and community mental health centres, school‑based counselling, and youth support programs are essential to reach vulnerable groups.
Mental health treatment has also unfortunately remained a privilege of urban or wealthy families, and this too must change. Mental health is not a problem that only the privileged experience - everyone needs help.
Acknowledging the scale of our mental health crisis is an important step. However, acknowledgment must only be the beginning. It is time to build a system where mental health care is not a luxury but a right.
