Global progress towards universal coverage of essential health services, a component of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.8, is measured at the country level using the WHO Service Coverage Index.
Limited emphasis is placed on understanding the gendered pathways that influence mental health, especially long-term cumulative impacts of gender-based inequalities. Exposure to early child marriage (marriage by age 15) may exaggerate exposure to gender-based mental health risk-factors, providing an opportunity to understand the multi-layered gendered pathways that impact mental health overtime.
