Mental health issues have become a growing concern worldwide, affecting individuals of all ages, backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. One in four people will experience a mental health disorder each year, with anxiety and depression being the most common conditions.
Amid the growing concerns over mental well-being, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is taking several steps to increase its awareness and tackle the issues.
Under the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), 25 Centres of Excellence have been sanctioned to increase the intake of students in PG departments in mental health specialities as well as to provide tertiary-level treatment facilities.
The government has also supported 19 government medical colleges/institutions to strengthen 47 PG Departments in mental health specialities.
District and state-level programmes are also sanctioned by the health ministry. The District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) component of the NMHP has been sanctioned for implementation in 767 districts for which support is provided to states/UTs through the National Health Mission.
Providing training to specialist and non-specialist cadres such as medical officers, psychologists, social workers, and nurses is also included under the DMHP.
The government is also taking steps to strengthen mental healthcare services at the primary healthcare level. Over 1.73 lakh Sub Health Centres (SHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) have been upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. Mental health services have been added to the services under the package.
The government is also 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, a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ was launched on 10th October 2022, to further improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country.
Presently, 36 states/ UTs have set up 53 Tele MANAS cells and have started Tele mental health services. More than 15,95,000 calls have been handled on the helpline number.
The Tele MANAS mobile application was launched on World Mental Health Day on October 10 this year. It is a comprehensive mobile platform that has been developed to provide support for mental health issues ranging from well-being to mental disorders.
