💰Mental health· 2018-2026
How much money the mental health reform actually has
The ministry declared 200 million pesos for mental health, funded 42 community projects with 34 million, and a teachers' union said the school plan “does not even cover 20 psychologists”.
Figure published by the sources
$ 200 millones declarados por el MSP para ejecutar en salud mental (junio de 2026) y $ 34 millones adjudicados a 42 proyectos comunitarios (julio de 2026)
Bodies involved
Ministerio de Salud Pública · ASSE
What it is
Law 19.529 was passed in 2017 with no funding attached. In July 2018 El Observador reported that implementation was estimated at US$3 million —plus some 100 million pesos for works at Vilardebó Hospital— and that none of it entered that year's budget review. Eight years on the argument is unchanged: in September 2025 ASSE asked the Chamber of Deputies budget committee for 170 million pesos for mental health and presented it as a central priority, la diaria reported.
What is questioned
On 25 June 2026 Health Minister Cristina Lustemberg led the delegation that appeared before the special parliamentary committee monitoring Law 19.529 and said the ministry has 200 million pesos to spend on mental health as part of the shift to a community model, announcing a pilot plan to place psychologists in secondary and technical schools, according to la diaria. Three weeks later, on 14 July 2026, the ministry announced it would fund 42 community projects —out of 139 submitted— for a total of 34 million pesos, with proposals from social organisations in 16 departments under the Acción País programme; dividing the two figures gives an average of around 810,000 pesos per project. On 17 July, la diaria carried the criticism of Fenapes general secretary Emiliano Mandacen of the pilot plan: he said the proposed resources “do not even cover 20 psychologists” and called for structural planning, while also pointing to delays when schools refer students for psychiatric consultation. That article carries no ministry response to his criticism.
Why it matters to you
Setting the amounts beside the size of the problem is the quickest way to tell whether a policy exists or is only announced: 34 million pesos spread over 42 projects buys a small team for a few months, against the 668 suicide deaths and 6,140 attempts recorded in 2025.
Where it stands
The 42 community projects were announced in July 2026 and the pilot plan for psychologists in schools was still being defined when the union spoke. As of this file (August 2026) there is nothing after 17 July 2026 on the total amount assigned to implementing the law.
This money does not travel through state procurement
The contract-by-contract cross-reference is not available for this file. The money is executed through a channel the public-procurement open data does not record, so putting a total here would be inventing it. The cited sources are, for now, the only public quantification.
Where it goes instead
Public-private partnerships (PPP), trusts, state-to-state contracts, direct agreements, or a state company's own budget. None of those channels publish their awards on the Compras Estatales portal.
Community projects are funded through agreements with social organisations, which do not always appear as tendered purchases on the state portal. The feed covers supplies, works and services well, but not transfers or budget appropriations. Nothing described here implies wrongdoing.
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