HYDERABAD: Sindh’s 20 out of 30 districts do not have mental health services provision, one of the most unprivileged districts; Tharparkar has taken lead to initiate by providing sustained mental health services in the district through a network of the health workforce.
The services will connect mental health patients with health practitioners at various levels through a network of lady health workers working across Tharparkar villages. This is being done for the first time in Pakistan which has touched the most sensitive and untouched health services areas and Tharparkar has taken the lead to launch it, this was announced by the Chairman of the Sindh Mental Health Authority (SMHA), Senator Dr. Karim Khawaja during a concluding ceremony of 3-day training workshop on ‘Telehelp Services on Mental Health’ held here on Wednesday.
Dr. Khawaja said it is multi-stakeholder partnership between SMHA, Thar Foundation, Health Dept. Govt of Sindh, Civil Hospital Mithi, Sir Cowasjee Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences Hyderabad (SCIPBS) and Liaquat University of Medical & Health Licenses (LUMHS). He said they will launch first-ever data on the state of mental health in Sindh next month which will reveal astonishing figures on the issue. “Mental health service is less attentive area across Pakistan, which needs immediate attention. Currently, he added, Sindh’s 20 districts have no specialist physiatrists working in the public sector.
Dr. Gordhan Das, District Health Officer (DHO) of Tharparkar, said this initiative will help to gather mental health trends on regular basis and curb the disturbing trend of increasing suicides in Tharparkar by providing proactive counselling/treatment services to identified patients. He said Health Department will continue to provide its infrastructure and community health workforce for training and counselling services and provision of medicines and supplies to vulnerable patients.
Mohsin Babbar of Thar Foundation said the spike in suicide cases in Thar led to this partnership which is aimed at providing free of cost psychiatric/ counselling/treatment services, follow-up, free medicines to identified patients under a one-year pilot project utilizing the already working health workforce of the district.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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