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According to WHO around 450 million people around the world suffer from some form of mental health condition. As per the latest WHO report UAE recorded the highest depression levels among the Eastern Mediterranean Region countries. Anxiety and depression contributed to 75 percent of the mental health disorders in the country.

What is alarming is the fact that very few health insurance policy in UAE offer mental health treatments as standard. Most of the insurers offer it as an add-on feature that usually commands high premiums. Fortunately, mental health has been now recognized as an important topic by the officials at the administrative and policy-making level giving a much-needed boost to mental health treatments among its residents.

Dubai Leading the Way

The newly formed Dubai Health Care Corporation (DHC) is looking at the possibility of including mental health treatments and rehabilitation treatments in the mandatory health insurance policy. Dubai requires its residents to have a mandatory health insurance policy and the addition of these treatments might impact the policy price.

As per the CEO of Dubai Health Care Corporation (DHC), Dr. Younis Al Kazim, mental health is equally important as treating physical health, and adequate access to professional help is required for patients who have suffered various degrees of trauma. It is important to note that patients who have undergone a heart attack, neurological diseases, require professional help to assimilate back into their family and society. Hence, mental health will be made part of public policy.

Some of the common mental health issues that the patients seek medical help with include depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related issues, family dynamics issues, gadget addiction, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), insomnia, to name a few.

The inclusion of mental health coverage is part of the welfare initiative of the government of Dubai; it is still unclear who will bear the burden for the same. Insurers along with major health insurance brokers in Dubai believe that a higher premium as a consequence of including mental health and other treatments might become a financial burden on Dubai residents especially at the lower section of the society.

Many residents welcome the move of the government, COVID-19 pandemic has especially brought in huge stress levels among Dubai residents. Work from home situations along with online classes of students has made working moms anxious. This anxiety has created meltdowns forcing many to quit their jobs and reset priorities. Professional help is very expensive and not covered under most insurance policies forcing people to decide not to seek the help that they require, making the situation worse.

With affordable mental health facilities and adequate insurance covers, people from all sections of society can confidently seek professional help.