Mental Health: Mental health overtakes cancer as a top concern

Brazilians care more about mental health than cancer. This was the finding of the survey “Global Health Services Monitor”, carried out by the Ipsos Institute.

According to the survey, 49% of respondents in Brazil pointed to psychological well-being as the main factor of concern, behind only Covid-19, cited by 62%, which has already caused more than 686,000 deaths in the country. Cancer is a cause for concern for 29%.

The survey was carried out between July 22 and August 5, 2022, with 23,507 people, in 34 countries: South Africa, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Spain, United States, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and Turkey. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

Respondents were asked which condition they saw as the biggest health problem faced by the population of their country. Topics included Covid-19, mental health, cancer, stress, obesity, diabetes, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, heart disease, smoking, dementia, hospital superbugs, sexually transmitted infections.

In the overall result, 47% responded Covid-19, 36% said mental health and 34% said cancer. Next were stress (26%), obesity (22%), diabetes (16%), drug abuse (16%), alcohol abuse (13%), heart disease (13%), and smoking (11%). completing the top ten.

In 2021, mental health was pointed out by 40% of Brazilians as a reason for concern and, in 2020, by 27%. In 2018, only 18% of the population chose this theme.

For Cassio Damacena, Healthcare leader at Ipsos Brasil, the great concern about the pandemic generated a discussion about health that was extended to mental health.

“The survey showed a greater concern with mental health in relation to previous measurements. This concern has been maintained even with the relaxation and resumption of normality in the post-pandemic. with mental health, which signals that for the coming years this should continue to be a ‘guideline’ for the health of the Brazilian population”, observes Damacena.

“For the future, it is expected that the health context will include physical and mental concerns in a more everyday way in the lives of Brazilians”, he says.

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