Author: Jean-Baptiste Hazo; Coralie Gandré; Marion Leboyer; Carla Obradors-Tarragó; Stefano Belli; David McDaid; A-La Park; Maria Victoria Maliandi; Kristian Wahlbeck; Til Wykes; Jim van Os; Josep Maria Haro; Karine Chevreul

Author Affiliation: ECEVE, UMRS 1123, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, INSERM, Paris, France; AP-HP, URC-Eco, DHU Pepsy, F-75004 Paris, France; Foundation FondaMental, French National Science Foundation, Créteil, France. Electronic address: jeanbaptiste.hazo@urc-eco.fr.

Keywords: Biomedical Research - economics; Charities - economics; Finland; France; Humans; Mental Health - economics; Spain; United Kingdom

Abstract: As part of the Roamer project, we aimed at revealing the share of health research budgets dedicated to mental health, as well as on the amounts allocated to such research for four European countries. Finland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom national public and non-profit funding allocated to mental health research in 2011 were investigated using, when possible, bottom-up approaches. Specifics of the data collection varied from country to country. The total amount of public and private not for profit mental health research funding for Finland, France, Spain and the UK was €10·2, €84·8, €16·8, and €127·6 million, respectively. Charities accounted for a quarter of the funding in the UK and less than six per cent elsewhere. The share of health research dedicated to mental health ranged from 4·0% in the UK to 9·7% in Finland. When compared to the DALY attributable to mental disorders, Spain, France, Finland, and the UK invested respectively €12·5, €31·2, €39·5, and €48·7 per DALY. Among these European countries, there is an important gap between the level of mental health research funding and the economic and epidemiologic burden of mental disorders.