Dina Helali, a member of the Senate Human Rights and Solidarity Committee, called for launching an initiative to support mental health in the various governorates of the Republic, following in the footsteps of recent presidential initiatives in the health field, which came to alleviate the suffering of Egyptians, support their health and reduce the repercussions of many diseases, and therefore the current stage requires attention Mental health and develop an integrated plan that contributes to its development.
Helali pointed out that according to the national survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population in 2017, represented by the General Secretariat of Mental Health, measuring the prevalence of mental disorders showed 25% of Egyptians suffer from psychological problems, and reported that they are more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. She explained that with the increasing rates of suicide and community violence, we find the need to launch a mental health initiative, raise awareness regarding it, and provide mechanisms that facilitate medical follow-up, whether at the level of cost or spread by presence in more than one place.
The senator considered that the launch of the electronic platform for mental health and addiction treatment represents a step on the road, but it must be paralleled with a plan to raise awareness to change the culture of stigmatization of the mental patient in society and the reluctance of some to disclose, as well as to various institutions, the need to enhance the mental health of the worker, which is what the organization called for. The World Health Organization recently, in addition to considering increasing psychiatry units, whether in cities, villages, hamlets, or universities, with highly qualified medical teams, so that the examination would be free of charge or for a symbolic fee.
Helali explained that attention to mental health is a necessity as it is the basis for any behavior within society, which contributes to preparing the person psychologically and mentally in any sector, calling for an examination of the challenges faced by the patient in dealing with psychiatry, such as working to motivate insurance companies to integrate the benefits of mental health. At a reduced price in insurance policies, especially since the bill for psychological care is high, and working to increase the number of psychiatrists and rehabilitate them in a way that is commensurate with the current medical changes, facilitating obstacles to enable families to detect psychological conditions early by expanding services for different age groups, from children to people of determination to the elderly and development of psychosocial care and rehabilitation programs for patients.
