Asunción, IP Agency.- Regarding mental health in Paraguay, Minister María Teresa Barán expressed to the Government Spokesperson the challenge of strengthening the decentralization of psychiatric care so that the Paraguayan population has access to the mental health program, which is a current policy.
He explained that the Government seeks, based on the regulations of the Mental Health Law in August of last year, “that people can access health services, not in the Psychiatric Hospital.”
And in this context, doctors with a specialty in health, family, and pediatric clinics have been trained and trained to care for people in the Family Health Units and refer only the most serious cases to psychiatric hospitals.
“There is still a big gap to fill. The Covid pandemic reveals the great problem we have with the issue of mental health, because with Covid many Paraguayan families were left without a mother, without a father. “Many survived Covid and were left with that fear and anguish,” he expressed.
He highlighted that it is the first time that a Government turned a crisis into an opportunity to care for people’s mental health, despite the small number of professionals in the area in Paraguay.
People with recovered mental health
Currently, prolonged hospitalizations for people with mental health problems are prohibited internationally.
Along these lines, the Government, through the Ministry of Health, is working for the more than 120 people hospitalized for 15 to 20 years in the Psychiatric Hospital.
Barán highlighted that 11 people were rescued from the hospital, since they no longer have mental problems and currently live in the Santo Domingo Complex, because they do not have family members to live with.
He pointed out that these people were given their lives back, following being hospitalized for so many years and abandoned by relatives, and they are now being given humanized treatment as they are in better conditions for their daily lives.
Empathic treatment in the public health system
The Minister of Health advocated for empathetic treatment in the public health system with the people who come to the service, giving it quality and warmth.
People who attend health services, in addition to their health problems, have their social and economic problems. They have to be served with the same quality, both in the public and private sectors, he said.
Barán highlighted that the most valuable thing the institution has is the human resource, highly committed and with human sensitivity.
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2024-04-24 08:11:34
