COVID-19-related mental health challenges and opportunities perceived by mental health providers in the Philippines

Despite the perceived decrease in barriers to access and treatment stigma since the Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) began in 2020, affordability and stigma-related reasons were the top-ranked major barriers to accessing mental health care in the Philippines. This was reported by local mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) providers in a recently published study by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s HHI Resilient Communities program in cooperation with the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) and Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP)