*Dr Milind Deogaonkar <[email protected]>* *05 Feb 2012*
At its just concluded executive board meeting, the World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted a resolution moved by India that focuses on the global burden of mental disorders, and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response from health and social sectors at the country level. India had also successfully argued for mental disorders being included in the non-communicable disease list at the first Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Disease Control in Moscow last year. India’s initiative has been lauded, as the gap between the need for treatment for mental disorders is wide all over the world. For example, between 76 and 85 per cent of people with severe mental disorders receive no treatment for their mental health problems, in low and middle-income countries; the corresponding range for high-income countries is also between 35 and 50 per cent. It is internationally recognised that mental health is equally, if not more, important for the health of any country. We need to do much more in creating awareness, and governments too need to understand the implications of mental illness and its ramifications on quality of life of citizens, their families and society. While depression due to social factors is leading people to commit suicides on one side, there is also a bidirectional relationship between medical and mental illness. She points out that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, stroke and Parkinson’s disease also lead to prevalence of comorbid depression among those patients. Yet it’s ironical then, that our mental healthcare scene is dismal, bordering on the negligent. A note prepared by the ministry says, seven per cent of India’s population suffers from mental disorders and over 90 per cent remain untreated. There is less than one psychiatrist available for every four lakh people. The scene is worse in rural areas. This is not surprising considering India’s allocation for mental healthcare is less than 1 per cent of the health budget. Translated into ground reality, these figures mean that a huge percentage of the mentally ill are cared for by their families without even getting a proper diagnosis. The social stigma associated with being mentally sick means that families can hardly hope for a support network outside the home. Even among the educated and better-off sections, it is common to see the severely mentally ill being hidden from the outside world, shunned by neighbours and relatives, while those suffering from less severe forms are accused of being work-shirkers and malingerers. Women sufferers bear a heavier burden. The mentally ill are also more prone to suffer violation of their human rights, remain unemployed and poor, and more susceptible to the other non-communicable diseases. The strategies to fight mental illness call for a complex array that will deal with its multifaceted effects, and civil society must do its part as much as the government. Mental health and its ramifications affect every country and section of society. Unfortunately, official recognition of the incidence of the same in India has been more on paper than in practice. The National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) was launched in 1982, while the Mental Health Act (MHA), 1987, came into effect in the early 1990s. The implementation of the programme has, however, not been satisfactory, the most significant factor being the lack of priority given by the states to it. Psychiatrists and judicial activists have called for an overhauling of the MHA to make it more patient-friendly and in tune with advances in the field of mental healthcare. The draft MHA 2010 needs to be publicised and discussed widely in the public domain. One of their major demands is that the mental health programme should be incorporated in the National Rural Health Mission, and care and counselling should be available at primary health centres. There should be greater attention to rehabilitation in severe illnesses like schizophrenia, which is estimated to affect over 30 lakh patients in India. *(Dr Deogaonkar is a US-based neurosurgeon of Indian origin. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own)* * * http://expressbuzz.com/voices/Dismal-mental-health-scenario-in-India/359525.html -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. 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