Close to a billion people around the world live with poor mental health, according to estimates by the World Health Organization. The pandemic precipitated millions of additional cases of depression and anxiety – by far the most common manifestation of poor mental health – with young people and women disproportionately affected. More worryingly, current global challenges – geopolitical, climatic and economic – do little to abate this growing crisis.
Poor mental health costs trillions to the economy and billions to insurers each year. Yet the world knows relatively little about what is being done to avert this silent epidemic, and in particular how insurers are rising to the challenge. A new Geneva Association report focuses on insurance and mental health – an under-researched topic to date. This webinar presented the report’s key messages, convening senior leaders from the insurance industry and policy world to explore what is at stake, innovations underway and how life and health insurers can further support people living with poor mental health.
