ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination will host the Pakistan Global Mental Health Summit 2026 at Serena Hotel, Islamabad, on October 1 and 2, 2026, in conjunction with World Mental Health Day 2026.
The summit will be held under the theme, “Building Climate-Resilient and Future-Ready Mental Health Systems for Children, Young People and Communities,” with the support of lead development partners.
According to the ministry, Pakistan faces a substantial burden of mental, neurological and substance use conditions, while mental health services remain fragmented, under-resourced and largely concentrated in urban tertiary centres.
An estimated 10 to 16 per cent of adults in the country live with a mild-to-moderate psychiatric condition, while another one to two per cent suffer from severe mental illness. Mental disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability nationally and across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad. They are also the leading contributor to total disability-adjusted life years among Pakistani women.
The treatment gap remains significant, with an estimated 80 per cent or more of people with a diagnosable mental illness receiving no formal mental health care in a given year. Around 500 psychiatrists and 200 clinical psychologists serve a population of more than 240 million, while only about one per cent of psychiatric beds nationally are reserved for children and adolescents.
The ministry said climate and disaster-related risks had further compounded the mental health burden. After 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 per cent and anxiety in 20 per cent of those evaluated.
The economic cost of mental illness was estimated at around Rs617 billion in 2020.
The Ministry of NHSR&C is also developing the National Mental Health Policy 2026–35 in consultation with provinces and regions, aimed at translating national commitments into action at provincial and regional levels. The summit is expected to provide a national platform to advance this policy.
“For too long, mental health has been treated as a private difficulty rather than a public responsibility. The evidence no longer permits that. Mental illness is today the single leading cause of years lived with disability in this country. It is not at the margins of our health system, it is at its centre, and our policy response must reflect that,” said Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
The two-day gathering will bring together federal and provincial governments, parliamentarians, UN partners, national and international mental health experts, academic institutions, development partners, young people, civil society and people with lived experience.
The programme will focus on child and adolescent mental health, including the launch of the South Asia Child and Adolescent Mental Health Landscape Analysis. It will also cover suicide prevention, substance use, digital mental health and innovation, and climate-resilient mental health systems. The integration of mental health and psychosocial support into disaster-risk-reduction and climate adaptation planning will also be part of the agenda.
“Pakistan has learned, at considerable cost, that floodwater recedes from the land long before it recedes from the mind. Our children continue to carry it. A health system that claims to be future-ready must be ready for that,” Dr Ahmad said.
The summit is expected to strengthen political and institutional commitment to mental health, culminating in the adoption of the Islamabad Declaration on Mental Health. It will also identify priority actions for equitable, community-based and climate-resilient services, including the integration of mental health into primary health care, schools and disaster preparedness.
It will further promote the meaningful inclusion of lived experience in policy, research and service design, and mobilise partnerships and investment with WHO, UNICEF, academia, the global Pakistani diaspora, development partners and philanthropy towards universal health coverage for mental health.
“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,” Dr Ahmad said.
