K-P govt prioritises mental health

New policy adopted for treatment at primary, secondary hospitals

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department has decided to give precedence to mental health and provide necessary treatment to suffering patients at primary and secondary healthcare hospitals.

For this purpose, the National Mental Health Policy will be jointly adopted by the province and the federal government as a five-year programme.

Formal work for the project is well under way. Sources indicate that the federal government has issued directives to all four provinces to adopt and implement a formal five-year National Mental Health Policy for individuals with mental ailments.

In this context, the Federal Ministry of Health has also sent a letter to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department. Sources further state that the relevant health ministries of all four provinces have been instructed to coordinate mental health and related provincial policies from 2024 to 2028.

Similarly, the implementation of the mental health policy and legislation will be accompanied by promotion and the introduction of strategies related to disorders. Additionally, comprehensive, integrated, and cost-effective services will be established at primary and secondary level healthcare hospitals and medical centres. The evaluation of the policy's implementation will take place at the end of 2028.

The improvement of the state of mental health has long been ignored in the province. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS), in June this year, urged the provincial government to make the Institute of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences in Hayatabad operational as early as possible.

PPS office bearers made the appeal to the government after an urgent meeting with employees of the institute to discuss the concerns over the facility's functioning status.

Those present on the occasion included Institute of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences PPS Committee Chairman Professor Khalid Mufti PPS Resident-Elect Professor Dr Wajid Ali Akhunzada, Professor Syed Muhammad Sultan, Professor Mohammad Idrees, Professor Dr Bashir Ahmad, Associate Professor Dr Imran Khan and other consultant psychiatrists.

The meeting participants thanked the K-P government for supporting mental health initiatives in the province.

They said the government's commitment was evident by K-P Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah's visit to the institute soon after taking oath. During the visit, the minister vowed to operationalise the facility. The participants said the promise was reinforced during a follow-up meeting with the Pakistan Psychiatric Society on April 4 where the health minister reiterated his earlier commitments.

However, they pointed out that despite these assurances, the hospital had remained non-functional, awaiting its operational budget.

They expressed concern over some reports which suggested that government officials were considering handing over the hospital to other departments.

They said mental health facilities were needed in K-P as around 34 per cent of the population suffered from mental health disorders, while depression affected 10 to 15 per cent of people, and anxiety disorders 10 per cent of the populace.