Genomics of psychiatric disorders: Regional challenges and opportunities

A recent article, based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, estimated that about 970 million people were affected around the world by common psychiatric disorders and that anxiety and depressive disorders led to the largest numbers of disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) (2). A previous work analyzed the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in fourteen countries and found that México and Colombia had higher rates than several European countries (3). In terms of the global economic impact associated with psychiatric disorders, a recent paper estimated that it is around USD $5 trillion; for the global burden of disease region in which Colombia is located it is equivalent to 5.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) (4). These major impacts on burden of disease, particularly on morbidity, is associated with the fact that common psychiatric disorders affect patients for many decades of life (2).