Since the Covid-19 pandemic, psychologist Brenda Rodriguez Aguilar has seen mental health needs increase by 30% in Mexico. The supply of medication hasn’t always kept up with the need.

Aguilar coordinates mental health care at the Clínica de Atención al Trastorno por Estrés Postraumático, or ISSEMyM, in the State of Mexico. The clinic focuses on post-traumatic stress, often from gender-based violence, among the state’s government workers. When patients are referred to the clinic, they are screened for mental health disorders, and psychiatrists work in consultation with psychologists to develop a care plan that includes sourcing or covering the cost of mental health medications.

About 70% of her patients are women, Aguilar said. “Women are more affected by social factors,” such as additional, unpaid labor and intimate partner violence, she explained through a translator. Men are also less likely to seek care for mental health conditions, which are stigmatized in Mexico, as in countries around the world.

Desvenlafaxine, a medication often used to treat major depressive disorder and related mental health conditions, is a key component of care for many of the patients at ISSEMyM. But Aguilar said these types of medicines aren’t always available to patients. Certain treatments, specifically serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs, like desvenlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are widely needed.

“This is common in the health services,” Aguilar told Direct Relief.

To fill these essential gaps, Direct Relief’s Mexico office is working closely with biopharmaceutical company Pfizer to supply desvenlafaxine to five mental health partners across Mexico.

While mental health has worsened worldwide since the pandemic began, Mexico has been hit particularly hard, said Jonathan Mangotich, a corporate engagement manager at Direct Relief Mexico.

Mexico’s Ministry of Health reports that 3.6 million adults are currently experiencing depression – a significant increase from pre-pandemic numbers.

Direct Relief’s program in partnership with Pfizer is designed to increase access to essential mental health care for vulnerable individuals, Mangotich said, with a particular focus on treating widespread anxiety and depression.

He estimates that the donation of desvenlafaxine has supported about 700 patients across Mexico.

“Our efforts to create greater access to mental healthcare are driven by the understanding that mental well-being is fundamental to overall health and quality of life,” a Pfizer representative told Direct Relief. “Through strategic partnerships, innovative programs, and a focus on affordability and equity, Pfizer is working to ensure that individuals, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location, can access the mental health support they require.”

“When Pfizer donated this medicine, it contributed significantly,” Aguilar said. “Women were suffering in particular” without it.

She explained that menopause and other women’s health concerns can affect depression and other mental health conditions. “This pill helps them with just that,” she said.

Aguilar explained that by the time ISSEMyM screens new patients for mental health symptoms, a general practitioner or other provider has already reported concerns or identified a potential need for mental health intervention through screening. At ISSEMyM, the goal is to identify how urgent the needs are – there are three tiers, the highest of which indicates that a patient is at imminent risk of self-harm – and develop an effective treatment plan.

When medicines aren’t available, that plan can be affected, Aguilar said.

“When there is no economic support for the purpose of medication…that leads to disengagement of treatment and care,” she said.