Karachi: Owing to the growing incidence of mental health issues with around 25 million Pakistanis suffering from depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders, and fewer psychiatrists available, Alkhidmat Pakistan has launched an initiative called “Brain on Wheels” to expand access to mental health care in far-flung areas of the country, officials said on Sunday.
They said Pakistan has fewer than 500 trained psychiatrists, which means less than one psychiatrist for every 500,000 people. Most professionals are based in major cities, leaving millions in rural and peri-urban areas untreated for years due to poverty, stigma and lack of services.
Citing World Health Organization (WHO), they said it is estimated that one in four Pakistanis will face a mental health issue during their lifetime, yet public spending on mental health remains below one percent of the total health budget.
“Mental illness is everywhere from flood-affected villages to corporate offices but our healthcare system still treats it as a luxury,” said Dr. Tabassum Jafri, President of Alkhidmat Foundation Sindh, at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing mental health services in remote areas of the country.
“Young people are breaking down under pressure, women are suffering silently from depression, and men are turning to drugs to cope. But there is no structured national response,” she added.
Recognizing this growing crisis, Dr. Jafri said Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, long known for its humanitarian work in health, disaster relief and orphan care, has decided to broaden its focus to include mental health. The decision stems from growing evidence of widespread psychological distress among communities recovering from floods, displacement or poverty.
“Mental pain can be just as crippling as physical illness,” she said. “We have realized that emotional trauma is common, and people recovering from crises need psychological help as much as food, water or medicine. That is why we are now integrating mental health into our welfare programmes.”
Under the initiative, mobile mental health teams will visit peripheral towns and rural communities to offer free consultations, counselling and essential medicines. The Brain on Wheels programme will also organize awareness sessions to reduce stigma, conduct on-site screenings for depression and anxiety, and train local volunteers in basic psychological first aid.
To support this outreach, the MoU was signed between Dr. Tabassum Jafri, President of Alkhidmat Foundation Sindh, and Kamran Ali Zaman, Deputy Director Marketing at PharmEvo. Mansoor Khan, Director Commercial Marketing, was also present on the occasion.
PharmEvo, a local pharmaceutical company, will strengthen the initiative through technical support, provision of medicines and coordination with mental health professionals. Company officials said the collaboration builds on PharmEvo’s broader focus on community health and well-being.
“Mental health is one of the most neglected aspects of healthcare in Pakistan,” a company spokesperson said. “Through Brain on Wheels, we hope to make people realize that seeking help is not weakness, it is the first step toward healing.”
Citing WHO data, he said mental disorders account for nearly 14 percent of Pakistan’s total disease burden, while untreated depression and anxiety contribute to chronic illnesses, domestic violence, substance abuse and suicide. The economic toll, experts say, runs into billions of rupees annually due to lost productivity.
Alkhidmat officials believe welfare organizations have a vital role to play where formal healthcare systems have failed. “Faith-based and community organizations can reach people the state cannot,” one official noted. “If we can combine awareness with access to treatment, we can begin to heal communities that have long suffered in silence.”
The Brain on Wheels programme will begin in selected districts of Sindh, focusing on low-income and disaster-affected areas, before expanding to other provinces.
For millions battling invisible pain, the initiative represents a long-overdue recognition that mental health is not a private struggle but a national concern, and that care, compassion and counselling belong as much in relief camps as in hospitals.
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