Almost a billion people live with a mental disorder. However, this area of pubic health is one of the most neglected ones worldwide. Given that World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10, a roundtable meeting with the topic “Sustainable Investments in Community Mental Health” was staged in Chisinau, IPN reports.
WHO representative Larisa Boderscova noted that the investments in public heath decreased considerably the last few decades and the people all over the word were affected by the pandemic, an additional impact was made on mental health. Not all those who need have access to high-quality mental health services, with discrimination and human rights abuses being still present.
“COVID-19 painfully highlighted the need to make sure that the mental health services are not only sufficient to offer alternative care, when the visits to health centers are not possible, but to also offer greater support, to a larger number of people,” stated Larisa Boderscova.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation are cooperating in this regard as part of the MENSANA project – “Support for the reform of mental health services in Moldova” that has a budget of 8.2 million Swiss francs.
“Mental health is now more important than ever. We do not yet know what the consequences of this crisis will be and how the people will be affected,” said Caroline Tissot, director of the Swiss Cooperation Office.
“Mental health is a priority problem for the Republic of Moldova and this fact is confirmed by the assumption of commitments by the country at international level, both by the Helsinki Mental Health Declaration of 2020 and by the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010 and joining of the European Declaration on the Health of Children and Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families the same year,” said Marina Golovaci, secretary of state for public health and primary medical assistance at the Ministry of Health.
There are 40 community mental health centers in Moldova. The specialists of these centers supervise 71,000 persons. In the course of 2019, the mental health centers provided assistance to 214,000 people, to 83% of these repeatedly, for diagnostic and treatment purposes. More than 5,000 people benefitted from the services of day centers, while almost 4,000 patients were assisted at home by mobile multidisciplinary teams. The specialist of the community centers referred over 5,000 patients to psychiatric hospitals for treatment.
In the event, it was noted that the human resources remain insufficient in the mental health system. Four districts in Moldova lack psychiatrists for adults.
This year World Mental Health Day is celebrated under the theme “Mental Health for All: Greater Investment, Greater Access. Everyone, everywhere”.
