How Abu Dhabi connected screening, access and quality in mental healthcare
2025 WINNER · Best UAE initiative and healthcare sector
The Department of Health Abu Dhabi’s 2025 entries described a system-wide approach to mental wellbeing. The strategy connected prevention, access to care and sustained recovery through 32 initiatives involving six government entities.
What they did
The work drew on health-system data, interviews, provider workshops and patient perspectives. In 2025, the department introduced depression and anxiety screening through the Sahatna application and incorporated screening into the IFHAS programme.
The submission also described expanded access for Basic insurance holders to referred psychiatry or psychology teleconsultations. Standards of care and provider quality indicators were intended to connect access with consistent pathways from primary care to specialist services.
What the entry shows
The entry stated that the coverage expansion created eligibility for more than one million residents who previously lacked access to those services. This describes people eligible for support, not a count of people treated.
The clearest evidence at submission was the introduction of screening routes, coverage and care standards. Longer-term outcomes depend on how people use those routes and the care they receive.
What others can learn
Improving access involves more than creating a service. People need a way to recognise a concern, a route into care and a system that supports continuity and quality.
Abu Dhabi’s approach connects those steps across policy, digital access and healthcare delivery. The story describes the measures reported in its 2025 submission, rather than current insurance eligibility guidance.
Based on the original 2025 mentl awards submission. Figures and observations are those reported in the entry.
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