While the global burden of depression poses a substantial
public health challenge, both at the social
and economic levels as well as the clinical level,
there are a number of well-defined and evidencebased
strategies that can effectively address or
combat this burden. For common mental disorders
such as depression being managed in primary care
settings, the key interventions are treatment with
generic antidepressant drugs and brief psychotherapy.
Economic analysis has indicated that treating
depression in primary care is feasible, affordable
and cost-effective.