Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the country is facing an acute shortage of mental healthcare professionals;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the hospitals and Primary Health Centres are adequately staffed professionals to handle such cases; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
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ANSWER
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ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)
(a) & (b): As per the National Survey of Mental Health Resources carried out by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare during 2002, the ideal requirement of mental health professionals is estimated as under:
i. Psychiatrists: 1.0 per 1,00,000 population
ii. Clinical Psychologist: 1.5 per 1,00,000 population
iii. Psychiatric Social Workers: 2.0 per 1,00,000 population
iv. Psychiatric Nurses: 1.0 per 10 psychiatric beds.
Based on the available information, the details of present requirement and estimated availability of mental health professionals in the country is as under:
Manpower Requirement Availability
Psychiatrist 13500 3827
Clinical Psychologists 20250 898
Psychiatric Social Workers 37000 850
Psychiatric Nurses 3000 1500
To address the acute shortage of qualified mental health professionals in the country, the Central Government, under the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), is providing support for implementation of manpower development schemes by States/UTs for establishment of Centres of Excellence and strengthening/ establishment of Post Graduate (PG) Departments in mental health specialties.
Till date, support has been provided for establishment of 21 Centres of Excellence and strengthening/ establishment of 39 Post Graduate (PG) Departments in mental health specialties in the country. These schemes have resulted in increasing the availability of additional Human Resource in the field of mental health.
(c) & (d): Health being a State subject, it is the responsibility of the respective State Government to ensure availability of adequate staff at State Government Hospitals and Primary Health Centres. However, the Central Government has supported implementation of the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) in 339 districts of the country for detection, management and treatment of mental disorders/ illness at District Hospital level and in rural areas through outreach activities by the DMHP teams. Besides, the Central Government is also providing support for recruitment of staff at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Community Health Centre (CHC) levels for providing basic mental health services. In addition, support is also provided for the training of the staff of District Hospital, CHC and PHC for providing basic mental health services by integration with the general health services.
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