Denmark rethinks funding balance between mental and physical disorders

The Danish government has unveiled plans to increase funding for research into why people develop mental disorders and how to care for patients.

In a strategy published on 4 May, the government outlined plans to invest 75 million Danish kroner (€10m) in such research. Innovation Fund Denmark, the country’s innovation agency, has already launched one call worth kr60m, and the remaining kr15m will go towards psychiatry research, the government said.

The government’s aim is to ensure that research into mental illness is not overshadowed by the study of non-psychiatric disease, which is allocated more resources nationally. The strategy was put together by the national board of health in conjunction with academics, clinicians, patients and relatives. It identifies six areas suffering from a shortage of research, including: preventing disease; ensuring that patients receive high-quality and long-term care; and involving family members and the community in treatment plans.