Health Dept drive to spread awareness on mental illness

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 15

The Health Department will provide training to medical and paramedical staff of government hospitals and conduct awareness camps regarding various mental illnesses in the district. 

The move comes nearly a year after a report claimed that 22 lakh people in the state could be suffering from various mental diseases. The report was published last April.

The report published by the department of psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, in association with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangaluru, last year also mentioned that around 3 lakh people above the age of 18 in the state could be suffering from depression. As many as 2,895 people from Patiala, Moga, Faridkot and Ludhiana were surveyed.

Later, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, started the District Mental Health Programme in all 22 districts of the state from September last year.

A grant of Rs 75,000 was received for the project this week. With this, the medical staff of primary health centers (PHC), community health centers (CHC), paramedical staff and accredited social health activists (ASHA) workers will be trained in providing assistance to all patients in collaboration with officials of Government Rajindra College.

Training regarding recognising symptoms of mental diseases, including various disorders and depression, will be provided to school and college teachers also. The department will conduct outreach camps in schools, colleges, slums and private rehabilitation centres.

Apart from this, the city presently lacks a psychiatrist. The post is lying vacant at Mata Kaushalya Hospital for the past six months. The lone psychiatrist in the city was shifted to another district. There is only one psychiatrist in Rajpura, who is now considered the nodal officer for the programme.

Dr MS Dhaliwal, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Patiala said, “We have now received the grant for the project and training of all staff will begin soon.”