The latest Headway Mental Health Report finds avoidable costs of more than €122 billion across Europe each year

Since 2017, Angelini Pharma and The European House - Ambrosetti (TEHA) have worked collaboratively on the Headway Initiative: a platform promoting reflection, analysis, dialogue and comparison in the management of Brain and Mental Health across Europe. As part of this Initiative, each year a Mental Health Report collecting data on the Mental Health and care of its 28 European member states is published.

The latest Headway Report

Officially presented at the European Parliament in Brussels on 25th September 2024, the latest Headway Report is focused on avoidable government expenditures. With Mental Health conditions now constituting 1/3 of the disease burden in Europe, national health systems — and societies more generally — currently spend €430 billion on costs associated with Mental Health conditions each year. Looking at a wide breadth of key performance indicators, the Report sets out a clear roadmap for how governments can yield significant financial savings of more than 1/4 of total costs each year as well as provide more effective Mental Health support to their populations.

Publishing new findings, some highlights from the latest Headway Report include:

• On average, European countries have improved their healthcare systems’ responsiveness to Mental Health needs by 7% compared to 2022.
• However, the majority of EU member states have seen a negative trend in Mental Health expenditure with a decrease in their readiness to respond to Mental Health needs in schools, workplaces and society.
• An additional annual spend of €27.4 billion on Mental Health and social services is needed to meet recommended investment thresholds of at least 6.5% of the total healthcare budget on Mental Health for low- and middle-income countries and at least 10% for high-income countries.
• Assuming this additional annual spend, the data shows that national health systems and societies across Europe could make direct and indirect savings of €79.4 billion and €43.5 billion respectively — a total of €122.9 billion each year.

Conclusion

Emphasising the magnitude of the burden of Mental Health conditions on European healthcare systems and societies, Angelini Pharma and TEHA call upon policymakers to fund and support long-term increased investment in targeted areas of Mental Health and social services across Europe. Taking encouragement from the latest Headway Report’s findings, if recommended annual investment thresholds are met, European governments should see both a positive return of investment as well as significant improvements in the Mental Health outcomes of their populations, including lower suicide rates, reduced burden on healthcare and social services, and improved labour participation. 

To learn more about the latest Headway Report, or to download the full version, please click here.