Expanding access to mental health care

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a third of adults in the U.S. show symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both. That’s an alarming number. Rates have drastically increased over the past two years, particularly among already vulnerable populations, including racial and ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. According to a nationwide survey we conducted with Morehouse School of Medicine, 84% of physicians reported an increase in new diagnoses of mental health conditions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advancing access to quality medicines is what we do, by making medicines more affordable and available to patients. Through this partnership, we are using both funds and our broad portfolio to help address the rising need for community-based mental health care for uninsured and underserved populations.

This program takes a two-pronged approach to increasing access to mental health care, through donation of medicines for uninsured patients and grant funding to support innovative services to help address the broader eco-system of care through free and charitable clinics. The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC)  is a network of more than 1,400 clinics providing accessible healthcare to more than 2 million underserved patients every year—and we are supporting NAFC clinics in the pilot states of California, Florida and New Jersey to help them deliver innovative mental health services. Direct Relief —Teva’s longstanding partner—is helping to deliver Teva medicines to free & charitable clinics within their network in these states. With the unique knowledge and expertise of these organizations, we can reach underserved populations with quality medicines and care, help advance health equity, and contribute to a long-lasting impact.

Our May 2023 announcement expands the program’s medicine donations into seven new states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, increasing the program’s potential reach to more than 650,000 uninsured patients through 400+ eligible free and charitable clinics across 10 total states. The seven new states were selected based on the program’s ability to maximize patient impact, which was determined by assessing unmet need and the presence of a strong network of partner free and charitable clinics in each state.

Looking back to 2022, 11 clinics were selected as grant recipients based on their innovative and practical approaches to care for underserved and vulnerable patients experiencing mental and behavioral health issues, with a focus on depression and anxiety. Learnings from their initiatives will be shared more broadly with free and charitable clinics across the U.S.