*24 September 2011* *CHENNAI* : Insufficient numbers of mental health professionals, poor remuneration, and inadequate infrastructure to handle patients with mental illness continue to come in the way of providing accessible mental health care facilities in the country, C. Ramasubramaniam, State nodal officer, District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), said.
“While the prevalence rate of a major mental disorder is 65/1000 population, and this amounts to 70 million patients, there are only 42 hospitals to treat them in this country,” Dr. Ramasubramaniam added. The WHO says that three per cent of the population is likely to be suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, and in India, there are over 20,000 beds in the government sector and just over 5000 beds in the private sector. He went on to explain the key features of the DMHP as a community-based mental health care programme, with the objective of reaching the unreached. Among the many innovations of the DMHP were integrating mental health care with general health services, involving the community and family in treatment, initiating rehabilitation services and staffing the hospitals. This was followed by a steep rise in the attendance in the psychiatric units in district hospitals, Dr. Ramasubramaniam added. So far, about 11 lakh people have been provided basic mental health care facilities. K.S. Jacob, head, department of Psychiatry, CMC, Vellore, dealt with the importance of factoring in local culture, economic and social policies in dealing with mental illness. Professionals do not take this seriously, but patients are known to seek interventions simultaneously with multiple agencies, traditional and faith-based inclusive. Gouthami of Travel Another India, shared her experiences of involving the community in initiatives taken for their welfare. Thelma Narayan, chairperson of Basic Needs India, said the discussion on community perspective of mental health must be seen in context of the approaching 12th Five Year Plan period. Addressing the existing disparities in health and wealth must be part of the agenda. The programme was held as part of a week-long training programme on Community Mental Health and Development (curriculum designed by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and BNI) organised by Vidya Sagar to enable participants to integrate and understand perspectives, knowledge and skills underlying community mental health development work. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2480436.ece -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
