Child Mental Health Policy: The Time Is Now

Abstract

Policy is essential for the rational and sustained development of child mental health services. Unfortunately, only approximately 7 % of all countries have an identifiable child mental health policy. The World Health Organization has developed a series of comprehensive policy guidelines including one for child and adolescent mental health. Policy has often developed as an outcome of the need to respond to crises impacting a country. The economic evidence is available to reinforce an argument for implementing child mental health policies globally. Rich and poor countries show a discrepancy between access to services in rural versus urban and wealthy versus poor populations. There are now several model policies often embracing a rights-based or inclusion approach. Asia has participated in the movement for the development of policy to support child mental health services particularly in schools. For policy to develop there is the need for “political will” which can be fostered through broad-based advocacy and the ability to make the economic and social arguments to demonstrate the importance of child mental health policy.