New Delhi: NITI Aayog member VK Paul called for a new national mental healthcare program that would address the huge unmet need for treatment of mental illnesses and disorders in the country.
“The way forward is to develop an overarching and holistic vision for inclusive and efficient service delivery, adopt an integrative approach by converging aspects of traditional medicine, and augment the mental healthcare workforce by optimising post-graduate seats in psychiatry, psychiatric social work, and clinical psychology,” he said while addressing a national workshop on strengthening mental health services and care in India.
The one-day workshop, organised by the Aayog in collaboration with the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) and the department of health and family welfare under the government of Karnataka, was part of the Aayog’s initiatives under the State Support Mission.
“The purpose of the workshop was to elicit the views of states and other stakeholders on existing gaps and challenges under the District Mental Health Program (DMHP) and also to learn from the states, their best practices, which can further be replicated in other states/UTs with their own contextualisation,” the Aayog said in a statement.
According to the Aayog, views were expressed on strengthening the District Mental Health Program, especially with respect to infrastructure, human resource (HR), training, treatment and IEC; developing and scaling-up primary mental healthcare through Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs; and rights of persons with mental illness, including reintegration, rehabilitation and empowerment.
Participants from 31 states attended the workshop held in Bengaluru and conveyed ground and immediate challenges, which need to be addressed, to the Aayog.
During the workshop, NITI Aayog made a brief presentation to set the context of the workshop, followed by a detailed presentation by MoHFW, highlighting the present scenario of the National and District Mental Health Program and the upcoming proposed strategies to strengthen its implementation.
Further, a detailed presentation was made by the director of NIMHANS, elaborating the challenges, experiences and way forward under the recently introduced component of Tele-MANAS.
The workshop was divided into four sessions, with a panel discussion and three interactive roundtable sessions, which focused on addressing challenges, sharing current initiatives and best practices in states/UTs, and paving the way forward for a holistic mental healthcare ecosystem in India., it said.
