SHILLONG, Nov 29: The state cabinet approved the Mental Health and Social Care Policy on Tuesday.
With this, Meghalaya became the first state in the northeast and the third in the country to have such a policy. The vision of the policy is to promote mental health and general well-being and to facilitate access and appropriate pathways to care. Its two main pillars are interdepartmental convergence and a solid commitment to communities.
The policy is part of a sensible public health approach taken by the state to provide mental, psychological and social care. A holistic life cycle approach is being taken, as part of the Meghalaya State Health Policy launched in May 2021, to encourage preventive and promotional healthcare while maintaining the curative and enabling dimensions.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the policy will ensure adequate mental health care, especially for children, adolescents and young people.
“We strongly believe that mental health issues are often neglected and therefore a comprehensive policy is required to address the problem. This policy will ensure that due attention is paid to mental health, particularly of our youth and adolescents,” he said.
Health Minister James PK Sangma tweeted: “The policy is culturally embedded in the state and seeks to address the stigma associated with mental health. The policy is also community-focused and will enhance recognition, rehabilitation and reform, necessary to raise awareness and build support systems.”
As the pandemic highlights the need to design a robust and inclusive institutional response, especially for vulnerable groups, this is an effort by the state government to improve people’s overall psychological and social well-being through this policy.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day on October 10 of this year, the state government had announced the draft “State Policy for Mental Health and Social Care” with the aim of promoting mental health and general well-being and facilitating the access and appropriate care pathways for common and serious mental health problems.
Following its announcement, the draft policy was made publicly available for civil society comment. The comments were then incorporated into the draft policy and reviewed before finalizing the policy.
The policy is the result of multi-stakeholder iterations, a process that forms an important part of the state’s continuous capacity improvement framework. The process involved the departments and agencies involved as part of a collaborative proposal towards the identification and solution of problems in the context of mental health.
The policy, which takes into account the social determinants of mental ill-health and cultural safety to be facilitated through collaborative engagement with communities to promote equitable mental health and social care for all, will be implemented through convergence between departments and policies while strengthening human resources. and community institutions, including financial support and infrastructure.
As part of achieving a greater vision of the State Health Policy, the state government is taking several steps, such as the launch of the Chief Minister’s Safe Maternity Scheme to save the lives of mothers and babies, the launch of the Development Mission of Early Childhood, as well as the implementation of the Health Councils of the Villages, etc.
