Steps Taken by the Government to Address Mental Health Problems in the Country
The impactful ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’, launched on October 10, 2022, has significantly improved the country’s access to quality mental health counseling and care services, marking a significant step forward in our mental health initiatives.The ‘Tele MANAS Mobile App ‘, a crucial tool launched to provide comprehensive support for mental health issues, is a significant step towards addressing mental health challenges.
As of November 22, 2024, government has set up 53 Tele MANAS Cells across 36 States/ UTs; the helpline number handled more than 15.95 lakh calls.
To address the mental health problems in the country, the Government of India has been making continuous efforts to increase the number of mental healthcare professionals.
National Mental Health Programme (NMHP)
The government of India is implementing the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP). Under the tertiary care component of NMHP, government has sanctioned 25 Centres of Excellence to increase the intake of students in PG departments in mental health specialties and provide tertiary-level treatment facilities. Further, the government has supported 19 medical colleges/institutions to strengthen 47 PG Departments in mental health specialties.
District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)
Also, the government has sanctioned District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) component of the NMHP for implementation in 767 districts. Besides, it provides support to States/UTs through the National Health Mission. One component of DMHP is to provide training to specialist and non-specialist cadres. These are: Medical Officers, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Nurses.
Strengthening mental healthcare services at the primary healthcare level
The government is also strengthening mental healthcare services at the primary healthcare level. The government has upgraded more than 1.73 lakh Sub Health Centres (SHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. Mental health services have been added to the packages of services under Comprehensive Primary Health Care provided at these Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. It has also released operational guidelines and training manuals under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat. These are meant for various cadres on Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders (MNS) at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
Workforce availability
The government is also augmenting the availability of workforce to deliver mental healthcare services in the underserved areas of the country by providing online training courses to various categories of general healthcare medical and para-medical professionals through the Digital Academies, established in 2018, at the three Central Mental Health Institutes namely National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam, and Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi. The total number of professionals trained under Digital Academies is 42,488.
Also, 66 institutions/universities are offering M.Phil Clinical Psychology courses. The Council launched the B.Sc. Clinical Psychology (Hons.) course from the academic session 2024- 25 and granted approval to 19 universities to offer this course to develop more clinical psychology professionals.
National Tele Mental Health Programme
Besides the above, the government launched a “National Tele Mental Health Programme” on October 10, 2022, to further improve the country’s access to quality mental health counseling and care services. As of November 22, 2024, 36 States/ UTs have set up 53 Tele MANAS Cells and started telemental health services. More than 15,95,000 calls have been handled on the helpline number.
Tele MANAS Mobile Application
The government has also launched the Tele MANAS Mobile Application on October 10, 2024, World Mental Health Day. Tele-MANAS Mobile Application is a comprehensive mobile platform developed to provide support for mental health issues, from well-being to mental disorders.
References & Related Articles:
- Press Information Bureau – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- ScienceDirect – India’s policy and programmatic response to mental health of young people
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