Editorial

The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that globally, more than 150 million people today suf-fer from depression. The WHO further estimates that mental, neurological, and substance use disorders account for 14 % of the global burden of disease. In Singapore, major depressive disorders (MDD) is the most common psychiatric disorder. One in 16 peo-ple in Singapore have suffered from MDD at some point in their lifetime [1]. While the knowledge base for integrating care for persons afflicted with chronic diseases and the frail elderly increases exponentially, it seems less obvious in the literature on integrat-ing care for persons suffering from chronic men-tal illnesses. There have been numerous published reports and papers on the increasing global burden o