Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Tuesday the creation of a national telemental health program, which will see the launch of 23 telemental health centers.
As India enters its third year of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of mental health is being heightened and talked about quickly.
And in a rare moment, the importance of mental health also found a mention in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget speech.
Speaking in Parliament, the finance minister said on Tuesday: “The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To improve access to quality mental health care and counseling services, a National Tele Mental Health program will be launched.”
Here’s a look at the mental health situation in India and what Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman plans to do to improve it.
Mental health crisis in India
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems in the country.
The physical isolation to which the population has been subjected, added to the fear of the immediate effects of the virus on health, have been two of the main triggers. In addition, economic problems, misinformation and rumors (often distressing) about everything surrounding COVID-19 have also contributed to this.
In October 2021, a study in the Lancet reported a 35 percent increase in mental health problems in India.
In the same month, a UNICEF survey found that “about 14 per cent of 15-24 year olds in India, or 1 in 7, reported that they often felt depressed or had little interest in doing things”. , exacerbated, among other things, by the continued closures of schools and universities.
In November 2021, the government’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) annual report showed that suicides in India increased by an alarming 10 percent in 2020 during the pandemic: almost 400 Indians died by suicide each day in 2020 .
Even before the pandemic, there was a severe shortage of mental health services in India. The National Mental Health Survey in 2016 reported that nearly 70-80 percent of people with mental illness in India received no treatment.
Mental Health Financing
Seeing these conditions, it seems that mental health in India is an often overlooked aspect.
In fact, last year’s budget had proposed a corpus of Rs 71,269 crore for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This also included the budget for mental health care – a total of Rs 597 crore.
Of this, only seven percent went to the National Mental Health Program; while the majority has been set aside for two institutions: Rs 500 crore for the Bengaluru-based National Institute of Mental Health and Sciences (NIMHANS) and Rs 57 crore for the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health in Tezpur. .
However, the situation seems to have changed this year.
The budget brings a change
On Tuesday, Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Budget, said in her speech that mental health problems afflict people of all ages and thus announced a plan to establish a National Tele Mental Health program in India.
The finance minister said that 23 telemental health centers will be launched with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) as the nodal center.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bangalore will provide technical support for the mental health program, it added.
Interestingly, Nirmala Sitharaman began her speech by expressing “empathy for those who had to endure the adverse health and economic effects of the pandemic.”
The Union budget document for 2022 shows that the budget estimate for 2022-23 for the health sector is Rs 86,606 crore. This is a 16 per cent increase from the budget estimates of Rs 74,602 crore in FY2021-222.
Health experts react
Mental health experts hailed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement, saying it was a step in the right direction.
Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General of the Association of Health Care Providers (India), was quoted as saying News18 that the government’s intention to focus on the creation of 23 mental health centers will be beneficial in general and more specifically for long-term COVID patients.
Dr. NK Pandey, President and CEO of the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, also added: “It is encouraging to see the government’s attention to addressing the challenge of rising mental health problems in India and proposed launching a National Health Program Mental Tele. budget, instilling the fact that focusing on mental and emotional wellness is the need of the hour, in itself speaks to how progressive we are becoming in our approach as a nation, Pandey said.
Kamna Chhibber, head of the department of mental health, Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare welcomed the “much needed” move.
“This ensures that it helps the shift towards normalizing conversations about mental health, encourages people to recognize mental health-related illnesses, seek treatment, and also remove stigma in the long run. In a large country like ours, we have a significant shortage of experts and accessibility and affordability have continued to be an issue,” he said. indianexpress.com in a report
With contributions from agencies
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