UNB, Dhaka :
Although the number of people suffering from mental illness is on the rise in the country, the mental health sector has been facing acute shortage of skilled manpower and resources.
“Manpower crisis in mental healthcare has turned acute in recent years. Mental healthcare services are getting interrupted for lack of manpower and experts,” director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Prof Dr MA Hamid told UNB. Eminent psychiatrist Prof Mohit Kamal said the government provides only 0.44 percent of the total health budget to mental healthcare while most of the amount is spent on hospital services.
“A large number of people with mental disorders come to my office every day…so, this is urgent to increase allocation for mental healthcare to treat the increasing number of mental patients,” he added.
According to available official data, there are only 210 psychiatrists, 50 clinical psychologists, seven psychiatric social workers and three occupational therapists in the country to provide healthcare to patients with mental disorders. There are 10,030 physicians who received training on mental health but they are not experts at all in this field. On the other hand, about 9,400 health workers have already been trained on mental health issues.
Only 338 nurses are currently working in the country’s mental hospitals. About 4,500 nurses, who have been working in different hospitals, have already got training on it, the official data show.
Mental disorders constitute a major public health problem globally with higher burden in low and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. But, the number of patients suffering from mental illness has increased in the country due to various reasons. A new survey of NIMH reveals that about 31 percent adult people suffer from any form of mental illness, which is almost double than the previous survey conducted in 2005. The survey was carried out on pilot basis in both urban and rural areas – Tejgaon of the capital and Sonargaon of Narayanganj – covering 5,500 samples to identify the nature of people’s mental illness. Citing official statistics, Prof Dr Hamid said there are around 200 psychiatrists in the country, but the reality is that many of them either retired or went abroad or passed away. He observed that Bangladesh has no enough manpower, including experts, psychiatrists or nurses, to deal with the growing number of psychiatric patients in the country.
According to the ‘Mental Health: Bangladesh Information Picture 2015’, there are two mental hospitals in the country – the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (200 beds) and Pabna Mental Health Hospital (500 beds). A total of 40 mental health departments have already opened in public hospitals (813 beds). Bangladesh also has an adolescent mental health intra-department (20 beds), two psychiatric child clinics and 10 drug rehabilitation centres. Officials said the government has a plan to include mental health issue in the primary healthcare system.
Although the number of people suffering from mental illness is on the rise in the country, the mental health sector has been facing acute shortage of skilled manpower and resources.
“Manpower crisis in mental healthcare has turned acute in recent years. Mental healthcare services are getting interrupted for lack of manpower and experts,” director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Prof Dr MA Hamid told UNB. Eminent psychiatrist Prof Mohit Kamal said the government provides only 0.44 percent of the total health budget to mental healthcare while most of the amount is spent on hospital services.
“A large number of people with mental disorders come to my office every day…so, this is urgent to increase allocation for mental healthcare to treat the increasing number of mental patients,” he added.
According to available official data, there are only 210 psychiatrists, 50 clinical psychologists, seven psychiatric social workers and three occupational therapists in the country to provide healthcare to patients with mental disorders. There are 10,030 physicians who received training on mental health but they are not experts at all in this field. On the other hand, about 9,400 health workers have already been trained on mental health issues.
Only 338 nurses are currently working in the country’s mental hospitals. About 4,500 nurses, who have been working in different hospitals, have already got training on it, the official data show.
Mental disorders constitute a major public health problem globally with higher burden in low and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. But, the number of patients suffering from mental illness has increased in the country due to various reasons. A new survey of NIMH reveals that about 31 percent adult people suffer from any form of mental illness, which is almost double than the previous survey conducted in 2005. The survey was carried out on pilot basis in both urban and rural areas – Tejgaon of the capital and Sonargaon of Narayanganj – covering 5,500 samples to identify the nature of people’s mental illness. Citing official statistics, Prof Dr Hamid said there are around 200 psychiatrists in the country, but the reality is that many of them either retired or went abroad or passed away. He observed that Bangladesh has no enough manpower, including experts, psychiatrists or nurses, to deal with the growing number of psychiatric patients in the country.
According to the ‘Mental Health: Bangladesh Information Picture 2015’, there are two mental hospitals in the country – the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (200 beds) and Pabna Mental Health Hospital (500 beds). A total of 40 mental health departments have already opened in public hospitals (813 beds). Bangladesh also has an adolescent mental health intra-department (20 beds), two psychiatric child clinics and 10 drug rehabilitation centres. Officials said the government has a plan to include mental health issue in the primary healthcare system.
