Gujarat govt formulates mental health policy

The government of Gujarat is in the process of formulating a Mental Health Policy.

The department of health and family welfare has constituted a team and asked the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A) to analyse the sector and come up with priority strategies.

Along with B J Medical College, Ahmedabad, Bapu Trust, Pune, the IIM-A has constituted a team of experts who prepared the background paper, 'The Mission Report 2003', and submitted it to the state government recently.

The report has mapped out the status of the mental health services in the state and recommended a number of strategies to strengthen this sector.

The Mental Health Mission's work was formulated based on terms of reference, which was extensively discussed among the stakeholders in the sector, before it was approved by the department.

The team implemented the work from May to December, 2002, which was co-ordinated by Ramesh Bhatt, senior faculty member of the IIM-A.

The Royal Netherlands Embassy provided support to the activities of the team.

"Most of the developing countries allocate less than one per cent on their health expenditure on mental health and the services in this sector are dismally short of resources. At least one of every four persons who visit general hospitals has at least one mental, neurological or behavioural disorder and due to insufficient understanding, most of them are not diagnosed and remain untreated. The department of health and family welfare feels the need to develop a mental health sector in Gujarat and will soon frame a policy to strengthen this sector," said I K Jadeja, minister of health and family welfare.

"Owing to multiple socio-political and economic complexities, mental health problems in Gujarat are on a rise. It is estimated that there are 28 lakh adults with common and severe mental disorders at any point in time. Each year, about 11,000 new cases of schizophrenia come up. Natural calamities and social and family disturbances in Gujarat have significantly contributed to the number of the reported cases of depression, trauma, and anxiety," Bhatt said.

The National Health Policy, 1983, paved the way for developing mental health services in the country by describing it as an integral part of the overall health system.

The policy described the national scenario on mental health by focusing on a number of challenges the sector faces. These included myths, stigma and unlicensed mental institutions.

The National Health Policy, 2002, addresses these deficiencies in the public health sector.