While Australasian mental health researchers have an outstanding record of collaboration and publishing internationally, most of this activity relates to rich countries in North America and Europe. "
Less than five per cent of Australasian (ANZ) research articles on mental health published in high-impact journals had relevance to the wider international community, most notably to low and middle income countries, said Professor Helen Herrman, author of the research.
Highly populous countries outside of the developed regions of North America, Western Europe and Australia New Zealand (ANZ) were found to be poorly represented in mental health research. Western countries have shown the greatest contributions to mental health research, however mental health is a major issue for 85% of the world's population who do not live in these affluent countries. Without action, low to middle-income countries, especially in the Asia Pacific region, will see mental illness become the second leading contributor to their overall disease burden. And by 2020, for example, depression is expected to be the leading cause of disability worldwide.
The George Institute's Professor Herrman says "We believe that ANZ and other key players in North America and Western Europe have the resources and expertise to play a much greater role in improving mental health in less well resourced countries. It is important that international mental health research includes countries that are culturally diverse and at various stages of development. Most of the regions outside of North America, Western Europe and ANZ are low and middle-income countries, where research is urgently needed to provide a local, rational basis to set priorities, encourage quality interventions and to ensure efficient allocation of resources."
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry was also assessed in terms of the local ANZ input to international mental health research. "Only 20 articles (6%) were included over a 10 year period. This journal has the highest impact factor in the Asia-Pacific region, yet does not fully reflect the mental health requirements in the region", noted Professor Herrman.