Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s ‘Swasthya Chintan Shivir’ in Gujarat on Friday, Karnataka Health Minister Dr. K Sudhakar criticized the launch of Karnataka’s e-Manas portal nationwide.
But a reality check shows that the portal has a long way to go in Karnataka itself.
The ‘Chintan Shivir’ was attended by health ministers from all states. Sudhakar represented Karnataka.
e-Manas is an online mental health management system. It was launched by then Prime Minister BS Yediyurappa on June 26, 2020, during the first year of the Covid pandemic.
The portal will function as a state registry of all mental health centers and will provide a series of health services.
In the ‘Chintan Shivir’, Sudhakar said, “e-Manas is very easy to implement even at the national level because it is user friendly and also mobile friendly. It is an internet-based state registry of mental health professionals, facilities as well as all patients. But the data will be completely secure and kept secret. This will be a one-stop destination for all activities related to mental health.”
However, the portal has a long way to go to achieve these goals, despite the minister’s claims.
For example, only 30 of the 166 taluk and district government hospitals are in e-Manas. Only 125 centers providing inpatient mental health services and only 406 centers providing outpatient mental health services have registered with the portal.
The number of psychiatrists, nurses, clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers who have registered with the portal from across the state is just 194.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare has sent out a circular to all taluk and district hospitals to register with e-Manas, said Dr. Rajani Parthasarathy, deputy director of mental health at the department.
ksmha.in, the website of the Karnataka State Mental Health Authority, lists only 41 provisionally registered mental health facilities. And the number of psychiatrists registered on the website is only 40.
Additionally, none of the 194 mental health professionals have uploaded any patient records to e-Manas yet.
Dr NR Prashanth, Secretary Member of the Authority, agreed with the need to increase the number.
“We still have to set up the Mental Health Review Boards which will check whether treatment is being provided under the relevant sections of the Mental Health Act. Once we set up the boards, we will send a circular to all mental health centers and professionals. registered to start. upload patient records,” said Dr. Prashanth.
Patients must give their consent for both the registration and the storage of data in e-Manas. Mental health professionals also need consent to access medical records belonging to other mental health facilities.
Mental Health Review Boards should be informed of complaints and admissions of women and minors, people who have lost mental capacity and long-term admissions, and cases of restraint.
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