The ethical imperative to scale up health care services for people with severe mental disorders in low and middle income countries

Abstract

Most mentally ill people in low and middle income countries, where clinical services are typically scarce and mental health legal provisions often inadequate, do not receive requisite evidence based treatment. The unfortunate consequence is compromised health and well-being and lack of social integration in the community. Recent initiatives, such as the Movement for Global Mental Health, aim to improve the situation and, in so doing, take into account ethical factors that play a role in the face of inadequate care and mental health legislative frameworks. Two composite case vignettes based on the narratives of actual patients living in India are used to show how family carers resort to measu..