BSS, Rajshahi :
Optimum treatment and necessary healthcare facilities towards the mentally sick elderly people is very vital to facilitate them to get back their normal life, speakers at a discussion here.
To this end, they viewed collective effort is urgently needed as all the mental diseases excepting the schizophrenia are curable and so social awareness alongside positive attitude to the patients is very vital for their early recovery from mental sickness.
The discussion on mental health problem of aged people and means of way-out was held at the seminar hall of Institute of Nuclear Medicine Allied Sciences in Rajshahi city on Friday. Rajshahi District Retired Officers Welfare Association organized the meeting. Former Principal of Rajshahi Medical College Prof Dr SAA Bari addressed the discussion as chief guest with Prof Dr Shamsuzzaman Chowdhury, Chairman of the association, in the chair. General Secretary Jahangir Ali and Treasurer Mozammel Haque also spoke.
During his keynote presentation, Dr Mamun Hossain, Associate Professor of Psychiatry Department of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, said mental illnesses are under-recognized public health problem in Bangladesh.
“Awareness about mental illness and acceptance of treatment are very low due to social stigma and superstition”, he said adding psychosocial care of mentally sick and disaster affected people constitute a major challenge for the health and the social welfare systems of the country.
He told the meeting that some 16.01 percent of the country’s population is suffering from various mental illnesses but the nation has only 150 physicians to manage huge patients.
Taking advantages of the situation, some quacks and opportunist groups have been working as money-makers through exploiting the patients. He added that the mal- practitioners are pushing the patients to dangerous condition.
He added that mental health needs to be brought under the surveillance system incorporating with other non-communicable diseases. The state level treatment facilities for the mentally disorder patients is very limited, he said and underscored the need for uplifting the scopes to cope with the situation.
Optimum treatment and necessary healthcare facilities towards the mentally sick elderly people is very vital to facilitate them to get back their normal life, speakers at a discussion here.
To this end, they viewed collective effort is urgently needed as all the mental diseases excepting the schizophrenia are curable and so social awareness alongside positive attitude to the patients is very vital for their early recovery from mental sickness.
The discussion on mental health problem of aged people and means of way-out was held at the seminar hall of Institute of Nuclear Medicine Allied Sciences in Rajshahi city on Friday. Rajshahi District Retired Officers Welfare Association organized the meeting. Former Principal of Rajshahi Medical College Prof Dr SAA Bari addressed the discussion as chief guest with Prof Dr Shamsuzzaman Chowdhury, Chairman of the association, in the chair. General Secretary Jahangir Ali and Treasurer Mozammel Haque also spoke.
During his keynote presentation, Dr Mamun Hossain, Associate Professor of Psychiatry Department of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, said mental illnesses are under-recognized public health problem in Bangladesh.
“Awareness about mental illness and acceptance of treatment are very low due to social stigma and superstition”, he said adding psychosocial care of mentally sick and disaster affected people constitute a major challenge for the health and the social welfare systems of the country.
He told the meeting that some 16.01 percent of the country’s population is suffering from various mental illnesses but the nation has only 150 physicians to manage huge patients.
Taking advantages of the situation, some quacks and opportunist groups have been working as money-makers through exploiting the patients. He added that the mal- practitioners are pushing the patients to dangerous condition.
He added that mental health needs to be brought under the surveillance system incorporating with other non-communicable diseases. The state level treatment facilities for the mentally disorder patients is very limited, he said and underscored the need for uplifting the scopes to cope with the situation.
