*Sudha Nambudiri* *18-JAN-2012*
*KOCHI* : The state government should give a safety assurance to the people when they are facing a fear-phobia of an impending disaster, said Dr Shiv Gautam, member, Advisory board on health, National Human Rights Commission. Reacting to a question on the state of mental health of the people living in the fear of Mullaperiyar dam bursting, Dr Shiv said it was the duty of the state government to assure the people on how and what should be done during a disaster. "People should be evacuated out of the flow path and they should be told what to do. Security arrangements and teams should be in place and counselling should be given to the locals". Speaking to TOI, Dr Shiv said that the NHRC was looking into the rights of the mentally-ill patients as unlike other people with disabilities or illnesses, these patients have problems with cognitive thought process and 10 percent of the population suffer from mental illness - which means 12.5 crore people and only 4000 psychiatrists to treat. "So we are proposing that mental illness be included as a major document in the National Health policy which is coming before the parliament," he said. Incidents like the Ervady mental health village could not have happened had the rights of mentally ill people been protected. The NHRC has also worked on a document on Quality Assurance in Mental Health. "There is no law to handle such cases of mental illnesses except the Indian Penal Code". Dr Shiv is in Kochi to attend the Indian Global Psychiatric Initiative 2012 being organized by the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/State-should-address-dam-fear-phobia/articleshow/11536464.cms -- 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
