Books – Walid Abdel Salam
Saturday, March 04, 2023 05:32 PM
Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, inspected today, Saturday, Abbasia Mental Health HospitalTo follow up on the work and services provided to residents and visitors to the hospital, as well as the ongoing development and efficiency work in hospital departments, within the framework of the President’s initiative to pay attention to the mental health of citizens.
During his visit, the minister stressed that the mental health file comes at the top of the work priorities, whether in terms of developing medical facilities or expanding the services provided in them, explaining that health is not limited to the body only, but rather the integration between physical, psychological and social health, stressing the importance of prevention and good care for people with mental disorders or those exposed to them, and rehabilitate and integrate them into society.
Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, stated that the minister conducted a comprehensive inspection tour inside the buildings and departments of the Mental Health Hospital in Abbasiya, which operates with a capacity of 1,200 beds, and is one of the largest mental health and addiction treatment hospitals in Egypt, among 23 hospitals and centers nationwide. Curative and preventive services in general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, community medicine, rehabilitation treatment for patients, and addiction treatment.
Abdul Ghaffar pointed out that the minister followed the types of psychological treatment provided in those hospitals through the internal departments and outpatient clinics, which varied between drug treatment sessions, brain rhythm regulation sessions, and individual and group psychological sessions.
Abdel Ghaffar said that the treatment provided also includes “rehabilitation therapy” in its various forms, from specialized programs such as drug addiction treatment and smoking cessation programs, and rehabilitation for adult mental patients, in addition to programs for treating mental disorders for children and adolescents, including anger management programs, and therapy. Group self-confidence for children and adolescents, rehabilitation of children with autism, group therapy for hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit in children, and other programs dedicated to addressing various psychological and behavioral disorders.
Abdul Ghaffar pointed out that the minister emphasized the importance of the role of mental health hospitals in facing natural, epidemiological or human crises and disasters, and the resulting trauma or psychological crises, by providing psychological support to victims, through psychological support teams deployed in mental health hospitals.
Abdel Ghaffar revealed that the minister drew attention to the expansion of mental health services, and the merging of mental health services in health units and medical centers, as part of the President’s initiative to support the services of primary care units and centers. He also drew attention to the availability of psychological support services in adolescent-friendly clinics and safe women’s clinics. In addition to counseling and psychological rehabilitation services provided to young men and women within the initiative of examining those who are about to get married, in health units.
Abdel Ghaffar noted that the minister also monitored the mental health and addiction treatment services provided electronically to citizens, whether through the national electronic platform for mental health (https://nmhp.mohp.gov.eg/mental/web/ar), or the hotlines of the General Secretariat. For mental health, concerned with providing psychological counseling and receiving inquiries from citizens.
Abdel Ghaffar revealed the details of the comprehensive tour of the Minister of Health inside Abbasiya Hospital, explaining that the minister was keen to inspect the guest rooms within the departments (addiction treatment for men, the psychiatry unit for adults). Sections and raising their efficiency, as well as renewing the pattern of non-medical furnishings in the living rooms of detainees in those sections.
Abdul Ghaffar continued, that the minister inspected the patients’ waiting places, as well as the sports activities playgrounds and entertainment venues designated for the hospital’s inmates, directing the speedy inclusion of these places in the hospital development plan, given their importance as an important recreational outlet for different age groups, and the minister also inspected the land designated for the establishment of the National Medical Center project. Psychiatry of children and adolescents within the hospital, which will provide preventive, therapeutic and research services.
Abdul Ghaffar said that the minister praised the services of children’s clinics, as he was keen to attend treatment sessions for “autism” and “hyperactivity”, which are provided by doctors and psychologists trained in programs to treat these cases, directing the need to raise the capabilities of children’s clinics and expand them to facilitate on families of children.
Abdul Ghaffar added that the minister also inspected the ongoing final equipment work at the Center of Excellence for the treatment of autistic children inside the hospital, directing the speedy completion of supplying the center with medical and non-medical equipment and operating it during the next month, to become the first center of excellence specialized in treating children with autism.