DUSHANBE, October 7, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan will work out the national mental health program, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The source at a MoH said that intersectoral working group had been set up under technical support of the World Health Organization (WHO) for working out the program.
“According to the WHO estimate, Tajikistan is listed among 41 percent of countries that do not have generated national policy on mental diseases,” the source said, noting that local experts and international partners call on the government to work out and adopt the national plan of actions on protection of mental health of the nation as soon as possible.
Mental ill health accounts for some 10% of the burden of disease in the world and by 2020, this number may increase to 15 percent.
”Mental ill health” or ”mental illness” are broad terms used to describe a wide range of psychiatric illnesses, from anxiety and depression to eating disorders and schizophrenia.
According to WHO, more than 450 million people around the world currently suffer of various mental diseases. According to statistics, some 25 percent of the world population has taken medical psychological advice at least once.
As it had been reported earlier, events dedicated to World Mental Health Day were launched in Tajikistan on October 3. A roundtable meeting on occasion of World Mental Health Day was held in the office of Tajik Journalists’ Union the same day. Representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), the World Health Organization (WHO) Dushanbe Office, as well as some other international organizations, NGOs and media took part at the meeting.
A series of activities dedicated to the World Mental Health Day are organized in the country fro October 3 to October 10. On October 10, the second annual forum on mental health will be held in Dushanbe. The forum is expected to bring together psychotherapy specialists from all regions of the country, representatives of the MoH, international organizations and NGOs to discuss issues related to stigma and discrimination against persons with intellectual disabilities, social isolation of them, as well as problems of insufficient financing of psychiatric aid.
World Mental Health Day was observed for the first time in 1992. It was started as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health by the then Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter. The day is officially commemorated every year on October 10.
The 2008 World Mental Health Day material will focus on where we came from and what needs to be done yet for the future. “We will highlight different levels of advocacy and its role in creating change and the need for scaling up services so all people have access to information, personalized treatment, and resources to assist them in all aspects of their recovery,” the World Federation for Mental Health said.
According to the MoH, 17 psychoneurological hospitals currently function in Tajikistan. According to data from the Republican Center for Psychiatry, 42,000 people have been registered with the center so far.
