Should mental illness be included in vaccine comorbidity list? HC seeks response from Centre
The health ministry has specified around 20 comorbidities for people within the age group of 45-60 for the phase 2 inoculation drive against the novel coronavirus. An advocate has sought inclusion of severe mental health issues to the list.
India started its phase 2 of the nationwide vaccination on March 1 to vaccinate people who are over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The list of specified co-morbidities for COVID-19 vaccination included heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, kidney or liver or haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient or on waitlist, decompensated cirrhosis, and end-state kidney disease. An advocate has sought inclusion of severe mental health issues to the list. In a petition, Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, said that Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 provides that Right to Health is a statutory right of a person with mental illness.
Bansal contended that exclusion of mental illness from the list and further providing benefit of vaccination to persons with disabilities having high support needs, the government has not only prohibited homeless mentally ill persons from availing the benefits of vaccination but have also created barriers for thousands of persons having severe mental illness and no disability certificate. He also sought a direction to remove the condition of submitting disability certificates by beneficiaries for getting the dose of vaccine - IANS reported.
Seeking response on the petition, the Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Central government, the Central Mental Health Authority and the National Expert Group of Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC). The matter will now be heard on April 30.
Mental disorders linked to death risk in COVID-19 patients
A study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry last month suggested that older people with severe mental disorders are at significantly increased risk of dying from COVID-19. Martin Maripuu, Associate Professor at Umea University in Sweden, and his team, studied data covering the entire Swedish population over the age of 20. Among people who had been diagnosed with a severe mental disorder, 130 of them died from Covid-19 during this period, which corresponded to 0.1 per cent of the group. The mortality rate was almost halved, 0.06 per cent among non-mentally ill population. The proportion of deaths due to Covid-19 was almost fourfold for elderly (those above the age of 60) with severe mental disorders compared with the general population of the same age.
The findings provide a reason to consider whether people with severe mental disorder should be given priority for vaccines, said Maripuu noted.
In the study, the researchers referred to severe mental disorder as psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. While it did not include depression or anxiety, they said these conditions can be severe too.
How mental disorders may increase death risk in COVID-19 patients. As per the researchers, it may be because severe mental disorders can lead to premature biological ageing and impair health and the immune system. This group has other risk factors such as obesity, which various studies have linked to increased risk of mortality from coronavirus disease.
The ministry has specified around 20 comorbidities for people within the age group of 45-60 for the phase 2 inoculation drive against the novel coronavirus. Check out the full list below:
