Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launches India’s first mental health policy

By: Editorial Team | | Updated: October 10, 2014 3:53 pm

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Announcing October 10, currently recognised as the World Mental Health Day, as the National Mental Health Day in India, Health Minister Tuesday highlighted that the government is in the process of developing India s first mental health policy to curb the country s mental illness burden. Looking at the growing mental illness burden, the government is developing a National Mental Health Policy that will involve the country s best experts in the field and cover the full range of complex issues linked to this branch of medicine, he said. (Read: Harsh Vardhan announces October 10 as the National Mental Health Day) Also Read - Food insufficiency during COVID-19 pandemic increases depression and anxiety symptoms

Yesterday, on the occasion of first ever National Mental Health Day, the first ever mental health policy was unveiled. Dr.Harsh Vardhan personally oversaw the drafting of the policy and made sure it is embedded in a value system that upholds participatory and human rights. He said, We have also taken care of the last mile in service provision. (Read: Now, a smartphone app to monitor mental health)

Here are some key aspects covered in the policy:

Providing universal access to mental health care by enhancing understanding of mental health
Strengthening leadership in the mental health sector at all levels.
The policy is backed up by the Mental Health Action Plan 365
Specific roles to be played by the central government, the state governments, local bodies and civil society organisations towards improving mental health services

The minister highlighted that the policy would find substantial articulation in the evolving National Health Policy and National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).

I visited the famous Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Agra this week in preparation for the launch of the National Mental Health Policy. I have promised it fresh funds for modernisation and expansion. Similar funds will be given to all hospitals in the country to enable them to open departments for treating patients in need of psychological and psychiatric healthcare, Harsh Vardhan said Friday after launching India’s first Mental Health Policy.

It will have a pro-poor orientation because only the creamy layer of society presently has access to mental healthcare in India today, the Health Minister stated. He also released two booklets published by the Directorate General of Health Services: A Training Module of Essential Psychiatry in General Practice and A Guide to Psychiatry in General Practice .

We will move the Mental Health Bill in Parliament because the earlier effort made in 1987 ran aground due to a number of defects. This time a policy group worked dedicatedly to develop its recommendations. I thank them for recognising that the vast majority of the mentally ill people in India live in the villages and there is literally no care available for them, the Minister said.

Dr Harsh Vardhan pointed out that earlier laws governing the mentally ill, the Indian Lunatic Asylum Act, 1858, and Indian Lunacy Act, 1912, ignored the human rights aspect and were concerned only with custodial issues. After Independence it took 31 years for India to attempt the first enactment, which resulted another nine years later in the Mental Health Act, 1987. But due to many defects in this Act, it never came into force in any of the states and union territories.

The World Health Organisation has predicted that about 20 percent of India’s population would suffer from some form of mental illness by 2020. The country has only about 3,500 psychiatrists. Therefore, the government is confronted with the problem of lowering this gap significantly over the next decade, the Health Minister noted. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, The bi-directional relationship of mental ill health and poverty is evident in many reports, including the World Disability Report, 2010, that places persons with mental disabilities at the bottom of the pyramid. This alerts us to what could become a health crisis with damaging consequences for society.

The Health Minister was joined by Ms. Nata Menabde, Country representative WHO; Shri Lov Verma, Union Health Secretary; Dr Jagdish Prasad, DGHS and other senior officers of the ministry, in launch of the country’s first Mental Health Policy.

With inputs from PTI

Photo source: Getty images

Published : October 10, 2014 3:28 pm | Updated:October 10, 2014 3:53 pm

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