More than one billion people globally live with mental health disorders , according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with conditions such as anxiety and depression taking a heavy human and economic toll. As WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus notes, “Transforming mental health services is one of the most pressing public health challenges.”

In India, the Economic Survey 2024-25 stated that country is facing a crisis of worsening mental well-being . It was time “to find viable, impactful preventive strategies and interventions,” the survey said, and, given the direct costs to human welfare, putting mental well-being at the centre of the economic agenda would be prudent, it noted.

The challenges in India are many, access being a significant one . In an interview

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