11:52 p.m
Monday 17 October 2022
Books – Ahmed Gomaa:
The Public Prosecution announced that it is investigating the complaint submitted by the singer’s lawyer, Sherine Abdel Wahab, in which he alleges that her brother “attacked” her and that she was “forcibly” admitted to a mental health hospital.
Sherine Abdel Wahab’s brother and her mother claimed in a television intervention, with the media Amr Adib on the “Al-Hekaya” program, that “he admitted his sister to the hospital in order to be treated for drug abuse, and to protect her from her ex-hussam Habib.” The hospital submitted a report stating that she is “sick and needs treatment.”
This announcement raised many questions regarding the legality of forcing a psychiatric patient to be hospitalized and his rights during treatment.
For his part, Dr. Hisham Ramy, Professor of Psychiatry at Ain Shams University and former Secretary-General of the Mental Health Secretariat at the Ministry of Health, said that in general, there is a law protecting the mental patient in Egypt that was issued in 2009, and was recently amended in 2021 to add many rights to the patient. He pointed out that this law regulates how a person is admitted to any psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Ramy added, in statements to Masrawy, that “there are clear precautions in the law, the most important of which is that if the patient poses a danger to himself or others, he can be admitted once morest his will, provided that a committee comes from the Ministry of Health, specifically the National Council for Mental Health, to ensure that the person is ill and poses a danger. This is to protect the patient himself.
He stressed the need to inform the National Council for Mental Health of this case within 24 hours of entering the hospital to ensure the correctness of the procedures, diagnosis and treatment.
“Rami” explained that in all these steps, the patient is informed and informed of what is being implemented because this is one of his rights, and if the Ministry of Health committee announces that the patient’s condition does not require him to be hospitalized by force, an order is issued for his immediate discharge and referral of the medical facility for investigation.
He continued, “There are legal articles regulating this and clear procedures. There is a specialized mental health council affiliated to the Minister of Health that follows up on these procedures and their safety and safety of diagnosis and treatment to protect the psychiatric patient, whether in public and private hospitals.”
In the event of violating these procedures, there are “severe penalties”, according to the former Secretary-General of Mental Health, from a financial fine to 3 years imprisonment for hospital officials.
