Mental health services in Scandinavia and Eurasia: comparison of financing and provision

The aim of this study was to compare financial and human resources for mental health services in selected Scandinavian and Eurasian countries. A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical approach was adopted to analyse questionnaire data provided by members of the Ukraine-Norway-Armenia Partnership Project. We compared Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway) and Eurasia (Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine). Health expenditure in Eurasia was generally below 4% of gross domestic product, with the exception of Georgia (10.2%), compared with 11% in Scandinavia. Inpatient hospital care commonly exceeded 50% of the mental health budget. The central governments in Eurasia paid for over 50% of the health expenditure, compared to 2% in Scandinavia. The number of mental health personnel per head of population was much smaller in Eurasia than Scandinavia. Financial and human resources were limited in Eurasia and mainly concentrated on institutional services. Health activities were largely managed by central governments. Community-based mental healthcare was poorly implemented, compared to Scandinavia, especially for children and adolescents.