Close to one person in eight worldwide lives with a mental disorder, according to the World Health Organization, and in the least-equipped countries the great majority receive no care. In many regions the nearest clinic has no psychiatrist, and the first one is several days' journey away. President Macky Sall has written mental health into the programme of his candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General: he wants it to enter the Organization's public health priorities.

An invisible burden. Depression ranks among the leading causes of disability in the world. It strikes regardless of income, but the means to answer it are concentrated in a few countries. Elsewhere, there is sometimes one psychiatrist for a million inhabitants.

The after-effects of conflict. One person in five exposed to a conflict develops a mental disorder, according to the same Organization. Without care, a society emerging from war can rebuild its roads and remain in shock for an entire generation.

Care close to people. Built into neighbourhood clinics and delivered by trained staff rather than by rare specialists, mental health care reaches millions of people at low cost. A nurse trained in a few weeks recognises a depression and follows it in the village. She refers only the heaviest cases to a specialist. These models exist and are waiting to be funded, then scaled up.

Development aid and humanitarian appeals. Health systems answer to ministries and national budgets. The Secretary-General nonetheless weighs on the priorities of development aid and on the humanitarian appeals the Organization launches each year. Macky Sall wants to see mental health listed there alongside clean water and vaccines, so that a displaced persons' camp receives staff trained to listen at the same time as its tents.

A priority written into the vision. That priority rests on twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. They explain why the vision statement President Macky Sall filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace, security and development conceived together; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.

Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.

The World Health Organization's reports on mental health worldwide are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net