Sanofi Commemorates World Mental Health Day

October 10th, 2012

Sanofi is the only company to have developed a specific “Access to Medicines in Mental Health” program, to improve access to care for people suffering from a mental disorder in developing countries.

Mental disorders affect 450 million people worldwide ⁽¹⁾. They are the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries ⁽²⁾ where they have become a public health issue which is unfortunately too often ignored. In fact 80% of people with mental disorders in developing countries do not receive appropriate treatment ⁽³⁾

The reasons are multiple, complex and intricate: lack of awareness among public health authorities, ignorance of the medical cause of symptoms that are often attributed to possession by spirits, stigmatisation of people with mental disorders, insufficient training of health professionals, poor accessibility of drugs …

Patients live on the fringe of society, being rejected, excluded and sometimes, in the most extreme cases, even chained up.

Stigma often also affects patients' families. It is not only a major obstacle to access to appropriate care it also alters self esteem, impacts social life and makes it difficult to access employment.

Two pilot programs conducted by Sanofi Access to Medicines, one in Mauritania the other in Morocco, in partnership with the World Association for Social Psychiatry, relevant Ministries of Health, health professionals, patient associations and local NGOs, show that the combined actions of awareness, education and tiered pricing policy can significantly improve the situation of these people.

This is reason why new programs have been launched or are under preparation in Latin America, in Asia and in Africa.

Video References

1. WHO Media center, Mental Health: strengthening our response, fact sheet no220, September 2010 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs220/en/, consulted on October 5th, 2012.
2. Gerard F. Anderson et al Expanding priorities – confronting chronic disease in countries with low income, New England Journal of Medicines, N ENGL J MED, January 18, 2007, 356:209-211. 
3. WHO Media center, Mental Health : People with mental disabilities cannot be forgotten, September 2010, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2010/mental_disabilities_20100916/en/index.html, consulted on October 5th, 2012

About Sanofi
Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi has core strengths in the field of healthcare with seven growth platforms; diabetes solutions, human vaccine, innovation drugs, consumer healthcare, emerging markets, animal health and the new Genzyme. Sanofi is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

Sanofi is the holding company of a consolidated group of subsidiaries and operates in the United States as Sanofi US, also referred to as sanofi-aventis U.S> LLC. For more information on Sanofi US, please visit http://www.sanofi.us or call 1-800-981-2491.