New global coalition endeavors to bridge the mental health funding gap within a generation
PRESS RELEASE
September 23, 2024 – The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance, Clinton Global Initiative, Kokoro, McKinsey Health Institute, and Wellcome today announced the launch of the Coalition for Mental Health Investment (CMHI) — a global alliance of stakeholders committed to catalyzing the investment required to match the scale of global need.
The global burden of mental disorders represents about 15 percent of the total disease burden — translating to 333 million lost years globally. Effective evidence-based treatments and approaches – including community-based models – already exist, and many promising new ones are in development. However, only 1-2 percent of global health financing is directed toward mental health, contributing to an estimated $200 billion annual financing gap. Scaling these solutions for a mentally healthy society so that they reach those most in need will require sustainable, long-term financing.
Rapidly increasing global awareness about the importance of mental health is an opportunity for cross-sector stakeholders to make mental health services more impactful, affordable, and accessible for all. With the global mental health market expected to grow to $500 billion by 2028, the Coalition is well positioned to build on this momentum by transforming the lives of millions around the world while showing how mental health can be an attractive, viable, and scalable investment opportunity for funders across the full range of public and private capital.
To realize this goal, the Coalition will focus its work on four strategic objectives:
Connecting leaders across sectors with each other and with curated opportunities that help to accelerate its vision.
Inspiring investment globally, including in low- and middle-income countries, by highlighting the business case and impact potential of investing in mental health.
De-risking mental health investment by championing innovative financing approaches, including combining philanthropic and venture investment.
Integrating mental health into existing funding in health and other sectors, such as education, humanitarian, and women and climate adaptation.
CMHI was announced during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2024 Annual Meeting, which takes place every year alongside the United Nations General Assembly.
“One of our newest big ideas that we're bringing into action is the Coalition for Mental Health Investment, which we’re proud to announce at CGI,” said Chelsea Clinton. “This new coalition will sit alongside our existing CGI action networks to facilitate collaboration across sectors and areas of work because we know that when we share ideas and resources, we absolutely, can accelerate bringing solutions to scale.“
“Africa’s unique advantage lies in its population diversity and extremes of social challenges which provide unparalleled opportunities for testing innovative and globally scalable solutions. This not only positions Africa as an ideal impact investment frontier but also as the world’s premium sandbox for impactful innovation – testing new markets, products, services, innovative finance structures and impact business model,” said Frank Aswani, CEO of AVPA.
“By unlocking new funding and supporting innovative business models, we can scale evidence-based treatments and community-led approaches such that mental health support is more effective and accessible,” said Natasha Müller, Founder of Kokoro. “Care should be available to everyone, provided with dignity, compassion, and a respect for human rights. We believe that investing in a mentally healthy world is investing in more productive and resilient societies.”
"We believe that investing in mental health is not only essential, but also financially viable, profitable, and sustainable," said Erica Coe, Partner & Global Coleader of the McKinsey Health Institute. "By harnessing the full range of capital from around the world, we aim to show what is possible and the impact that can be achieved to drive positive mental health for individuals and society."
“We are on the cusp of a seismic change in how we treat mental health problems,” said Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome. “This change is being fueled by scientific discovery, from novel digital interventions to the latest neuroscience findings in relation to sleep and exercise. A key barrier to getting these treatments out at scale and in an equitable way is the global lack of financing. We believe this Coalition will help drive innovative investment in the next generation of treatments.”
Learn more about CMHI: https://www.mentalhealthinvestment.org/
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About African Venture Philanthropy Alliance
AVPA’s mission is to increase the flow of capital into African social investments and support effective deployment for maximum impact. AVPA empowers impact actors—including investors and enablers—by offering a robust platform where they can connect with their peers, gain insights and learn from shared experiences, influence policy and practice, and scale up their interventions for greater impact.
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI’s unique model, more than 10,000 organizations have launched more than 4,000 Commitments to Action — new, specific, and measurable projects and programs – that are making a difference in the lives of more than 500 million people in 180 countries.
About Kokoro
Kokoro is a not-for-profit that works in radical collaboration with a global network of allies, partners and funders, using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a framework. Through the combined effort of working with partners on three strands of work (‘Connecting’, ‘Scaling’ and ‘Championing’), Kokoro strives to collectively drive the systemic change needed to mobilise action and capital to create a mentally healthy world.
About the McKinsey Health Institute
The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is an enduring, non-profit-generating Institute within the firm. MHI believes, over the next decade, humanity could add as much as 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life, which is roughly six years per person on average — and substantially more in some countries and populations. MHI’s mission is to catalyze the actions needed across continents, sectors, and communities to realize this possibility.
About Wellcome
Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.