Sudan's mental health service: challenges and future horizons

Sudan is located to the south of Egypt, along the Red Sea. The country has a total area of 1 886 068 km2 (728 215 square miles) and a population of just over 37 million and is classified by the World Bank as a low-income country. The adult literacy rate is 59%. The total annual expenditure on healthcare is 4.3% of the gross domestic product, but the proportion spent on mental healthcare is unknown. As of 2009, there were just 0.09 psychiatrists and 0.2 psychiatric nurses per 100 000 population, and 0.2 mental health beds per 10 000 people, of which 90% were hospital-based; the other 10% were community-based units run by physician assistants and psychologists.