World Health Organization (WHO) has called on all practitioners and health care providers to uphold standards in taking care of people suffering from psychological issues and illnesses.
WHO Country Representative Dr. Arvind Mathur made the statement speaking in the National Mental Health Policy workshop held to draw up a strategic plan in Kurumba Maldives.
Dr. Mathur said that special care need to be taken for such patients and that the institutions that housed such patients also has to be of exceptional quality. He said that the standards and conditions of the Guraidhoo center should be upgraded and that the patients have to be treated better. He noted that it was extremely vital that policy changes need to be enacted to resolve the issue.
Dr. Mathur said that 20 percent of the global population have some form of mental health issue and most of them fall into the condition before they are 14 years old. He added that given the global statistics, it was not surprising that Maldivians had the same trends. He stressed that medical treatment was only one aspect of treatment for such issues and urged to seek all forms of treatment.
He added that even though the number of suicides in the country was low, globally the figure is around 800,000 and is the second cause of mortality. He said that one out of every ten Sri Lankan commits suicide, resulting from factors such as poverty. He added that it was deeply concerning that there were no trained nurses to take care of mentally ill patients.
Dr. Mathur said that it was vital that a network of doctors, nurses and volunteers be established in the Maldives. He also said that public sector spending on mental health causes should also rise, citing that amounts ranging between US$ 2 and US$ 4 per person as a threshold amount for such spending. He noted that the initial spending on the sector will be high due to infrastructure investments. However, Dr. Mathur noted that once the initial infrastructure investment is completed, maintaining the facilities can be carried out at a lower cost.
WHO appeals to uphold standards in taking care of psychological patients
