Pakistan is set to host a two-day global mental health summit in Islamabad next month, as the country faces a significant shortage of mental health services and professionals.
The Pakistan Global Mental Health Summit 2026 will be held at the Serena Hotel on 1 and 2 October, under the theme ‘Building Climate-Resilient and Future-Ready Mental Health Systems for Children, Young People and Communities.’
The summit is being organized by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (MNHR&C) with support from development partners.
It will bring together federal and provincial government officials, parliamentarians, United Nations agencies, mental health specialists, academics, development organizations, young people, civil society groups and people with lived experience of mental health conditions.
Mental Health Burden in Pakistan
Pakistan carries a substantial burden of mental, neurological and substance use conditions, while mental health services remain fragmented, under-resourced and concentrated largely in urban tertiary centers.
An estimated 10–16 percent of adults live with a mild-to-moderate psychiatric condition and a further 1–2% with severe mental illness.
Mental disorders are the leading cause of Years Lived with Disability nationally and across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad, and are the leading contributor to total disability-adjusted life years among Pakistani women.
The treatment gap remains substantial, with an estimated 80 percent or more of people with a diagnosable mental illness receiving no formal mental health care in a given year.
Approximately 500 psychiatrists and 200 clinical psychologists serve a population of more than 240 million, while only around 1 percent of psychiatric beds nationally are reserved for children and adolescents.
The burden is further compounded by climate and disaster-related risks. Following the 2022 floods, which affected an estimated 33 million people, government assessments concluded that one in five residents of flood-affected areas would require mental health care.
Baseline assessments in affected communities found depression in 38 percent and anxiety in 20 percent of those evaluated. The economic cost of mental illness was estimated at approximately Rs.617 billion in 2020.
The minister for NHSR&C, Malik Mukhtar Ahmad, said mental health needed to be treated as a public health priority.
“For too long, mental health has been treated as a private difficulty rather than a public responsibility,” he said.
He said mental illness was the country’s leading cause of years lived with disability and that this should be reflected in government policy.
Additionally, the MNHSR&C is currently developing the National Mental Health Policy (NMHP) 2026–35 in consultation with the provinces/regions, with the aim of translating national commitments into actions at the provincial/regional level.
This Summit will provide a national platform to take this policy forward.
Pakistan Global Mental Health Summit 2026
The two-day program will focus on child and adolescent mental health, including the launch of the South Asia Child and Adolescent Mental Health Landscape Analysis; suicide prevention; substance use; digital mental health and innovation; and climate-resilient mental health systems, including the integration of mental health and psychosocial support into disaster-risk-reduction and climate adaptation planning.
Organizers expect the meeting to culminate in the adoption of an Islamabad Declaration on Mental Health, setting out priority areas for action.
These are expected to include greater integration of mental health into primary healthcare, schools and disaster preparedness, as well as expanding community-based services.
Malik Mukhtar Ahmad said the meeting should lead to commitments that could be measured.
“We are not gathering to add another document to a shelf. We are gathering to make commitments on financing, on workforce, on services delivered where people actually live and to be measured against them.”
The organizers say the summit will also seek to mobilize investment and partnerships involving the World Health Organization, UNICEF, universities, development partners, the Pakistani diaspora and philanthropic organizations.
