Citation

Hamdani SU, Huma ZE, Tamizuddin-Nizami A. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/camh.12463

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Depression and anxiety are leading causes of morbidity in children and adolescents worldwide. In Pakistan, young people are exposed to many chronic adversities including violence, social and economic inequalities, and are at greater risk of developing mental health problems. Yet there is a lack of trained human resources, in-patient child and adolescent mental healthcare facilities, and training opportunities in child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health in Pakistan. Given the poor economic condition of the country, which has been made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is very unlikely that dedicated resources will be made available in near future to develop specialist child and adolescent mental health services in Pakistan. To bridge this treatment gap, we propose a multitiered, transdiagnostic, task-shifting strategy-based model for child and adolescent mental health services in Pakistan.

Language: en