Poor mental health is an existential threat that is destroying lives, yet it remains one of the most neglected areas in health. The escalating crisis of mental health conditions in Europe calls for urgent action.

 

Last year, the European Commission’s Research Directorate commissioned an independent high-level expert group to provide recommendations for the future of the EU R&I Framework Programme. After a year of extensive expert work and stakeholder consultations, yesterday the group has published 12 strategic recommendations aimed at maximizing the impact of EU R&I.

 

The influential expert report highlights that mental health is becoming an increasingly important societal challenge, with more than one in three Europeans experiencing mental health problems each year, at a cost of an estimated €461 billion. Despite this, only 0.68% of the total Horizon 2020 budget has been allocated to mental health research. Therefore, in line with the final outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the EU must prioritize investments to “improve understanding of mental health issues and ways of addressing them”.

 

One of the report's recommendations is the establishment of a Societal Challenges Council. This Council would focus on addressing urgent societal issues, particularly in health, by prioritizing challenges that are currently underrepresented, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and, critically, mental health. In addition, the Council would play a role in tackling issues that lack immediate commercial potential or require market creation. “A clear example is mental health, which has not been addressed by the pharmaceutical industry at the same level as many other diseases,” said Manuel Heitor, Chair of the high-level group.

 

 

The report resonates with the findings of the April 2024 Letta Report “Much More Than a Market” from the European Research Area Platform, which identified three pressing areas that require immediate attention in the area of public health: mental health, antimicrobial resistance, and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

PAREA supports these critical recommendations. Our current approach to the mental health crisis is woefully insufficient. We must create a more supportive environment for mental health care and innovation. This includes significantly increasing funding for mental health within the Horizon Europe Programme and its successor. PAREA recommends establishing a dedicated EU mission for mental health, akin to the Cancer Mission, to galvanize R&I efforts towards tackling mental health challenges comprehensively. There is also a need for specific incentives within the EU pharmaceutical package to attract investment in developing novel mental health treatments. We cannot afford to lag behind in mental health innovation as we have over the past three years, during which the European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of 89 new treatments in oncology, yet only one new treatment has been recommended in psychiatry.

 

With tens of millions of Europeans affected by mental health conditions, we must act decisively and responsibly to improve treatments and support for those in need.