Janssen project allocates funding for innovative mental health scheme

Janssen and its parent company Johnson and Johnson have announced the winners of an innovation challenge that aims to raise awareness of mental health issues worldwide.

Medical student Veena Katikineni of the University of Maryland and Bolivian health economist Alejandra Leyton of Tulane University in New Orleans have been selected to share the Scientists Without Borders Mental Health Awareness Challenge prize of $10,000 (6,050 pounds).

Their winning concept, Mhealth for Mental Health, proposes the use of SMS text messages to deliver information about community resources and mental problems to depressed or anxious individuals and their communities in developing nations.

It will empower patients to seek help for mental health problems in cultures where a lack of awareness and education, as well as social stigma, pose a significant barrier to patients in need.

Husseini Manji, global head of the neuroscience therapeutic area at Janssen Research and Development, said: "We believe this has strong potential to enable people to seek care for mental illness and that it will help to create hope for effective treatment."

This comes after the firm founded a global public health division last month that aims to focus on the development of new medicines to meet unmet healthcare needs worldwide.