WEF highlights Kerala's Amma Manasu as blueprint for maternal mental healthcare

Kerala's pioneering 'Amma Manasu' programme has been singled out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a replicable model for integrating perinatal mental health screening and care into routine maternal services, even as a new WEF–McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) report warns of persistent global shortfalls in screening, diagnosis and follow-up for women's health conditions.

The report, published Friday, maps gaps in women's health delivery worldwide and sets out a CARE framework -- conduct research, align care, report standards and engage patients -- to close those gaps. It highlights three representative pathways where better care delivery could yield outsized health and economic gains: breast arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk, pregnancy-related cardiovascular risk, and perinatal depression.

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Kerala's state-led approach to perinatal mental healthcare is presented as an example of how mental-health services can be embedded within publicly financed maternal care.

Amma Manasu, which translates as 'Mother's Mind', screens and manages perinatal depression through public health nurses linked to Kerala’s National Health Mission. The programme integrates mental-health checks into routine antenatal and postnatal visits, and provides follow-up and referral pathways for women identified with symptoms.

The WEF report notes that this state-level model demonstrates how maternal mental-health services can be delivered at scale without separate vertical programmes.

"Kerala, India, integrated perinatal depression screening and management into routine antenatal and postnatal care through programmes such as Amma Manasu, delivered by public health nurses and linked to the National Health Mission," the report states.

It adds that governments, as stewards of national health systems, must update clinical guidelines, finance delivery models, strengthen workforces -- including community health workers -- and support integrated care and accountability mechanisms to close care gaps.

Economic case for investment

Beyond clinical benefits, the WEF–MHI analysis frames investment in women’s health as a major economic opportunity. The report estimates that addressing the women’s health gap could add at least USD 1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040. That boost would come from reductions in years lost to poor health, higher labour-force participation, and improved productivity, it says.

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The report also quantifies the burden borne by women: on average women spend 25 per cent more of their lives in poor health than men, and inadequate or inconsistent healthcare delivery accounts for nearly one-third of that gap. According to the WEF–MHI projection, better sex- and gender-appropriate care delivery could reduce the global women's health burden by 26 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per year by 2040 -- roughly 2.5 days of healthier life per woman annually.

Care delivery shortfalls

WEF–MHI outlines multiple delivery failures that drive avoidable ill health in women. These include underscreening for cancers, mental-health conditions and cardiovascular risk; underdiagnosis resulting from atypical symptoms and a lack of gender-specific diagnostic criteria; and undertreatment, such as limited access to guideline-recommended interventions and delays in care escalation.

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The report argues that many of these issues are addressable within current clinical pathways if systems adopt clearer standards and better referral and follow-up mechanisms.

The CARE framework recommended by the report urges health systems to:

* Conduct research and gather clinical evidence for sex- and gender-tailored care.

* Align care and integrate referral pathways across services.

* Report using clear guidelines and standards to measure performance.

* Engage patients and stakeholders for more patient-centred services.

Maternal mental health in India

The report draws on India-focused literature to underline maternal mental health's local importance. It cites a paper in BJPsych International noting that maternal mental-health disorders are a significant but under-recognised problem for mother-infant dyads in India.

The paper -- referenced by the WEF–MHI team -- highlights recent policy advances that could improve services: expanded District Mental Health Programme coverage, greater emphasis on newborn health in public systems, and Kerala's integration of maternal mental health into its Reproductive and Child Health Programme.

The WEF–MHI analysis also points to the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, which requires joint mother–infant care when a mother is admitted for mental illness, as a legislative step that may shape service delivery. However, the report stresses that improved implementation, translational research and targeted funding are needed to convert policy into equitable care on the ground.

Calls for research funding and replication

The report recommends prioritising "innovative implementation and translational research" to generate evidence that strengthens maternal mental-health systems and improves outcomes for mothers and children. It urges that public research funding -- what the authors call "research rupees" -- be allocated to ensure equity between investments in physical and mental healthcare for mothers.

Drawing directly from Kerala's experience, the WEF–MHI report notes that the National Health Mission (NHM) is considering replicating the state’s integrated maternal mental-health model elsewhere in India. The authors argue that investing in perinatal mental health is essential not only for individual and family wellbeing but also for the long-term physical and mental health of future generations.

While the report focuses on feasible improvements within existing care pathways, it acknowledges larger systemic drivers that hinder progress: gaps in chronic-disease management, unequal access in rural and underserved areas, and affordability constraints.

The WEF–MHI team calls for a shift from reactive to proactive care -- strengthening health systems to enable earlier interventions that slow disease progression, improve near-term outcomes, and reduce long-term burdens on women’s health services and economies.