Editorial
Rising costs and the mentally ill
The issue must be a major priority in health care
ONE does not require much wisdom to know that the issue of mental health is rather low on the list of national priorities. It has been that way for years together. In all the discussions on health policy and the like, little, if any, focus has been placed on the pretty large number of mentally challenged people in the country. And now it appears that whatever degree of care there has been for such individuals is under threat of hitting a new low owing primarily to the costs of treatment involved. As a report in this newspaper makes it clear, the rising costs in treatment has compelled patients to leave the National Institute of Mental Health in recent months. Obviously, most patients at the institute and at similar institutes come from not very well-to-do families. Add to that the rise in treatment charges imposed by the government in September last year, which were without question a damper on health care.
Now, where mental health is concerned, there are quite a few serious problems that are beginning to come to the fore. And that condition only adds to the stigma traditionally attached to the mentally ill in Bangladesh. In the first place, a big scale of ignorance about mental health or its symptoms still prevails in the rural areas, as a result of which many victims remain beyond treatment. In the second, the mentally ill, even in the urban regions, are by and large prejudiced against. In so many words, where concrete programmes should have been in place for the treatment of the mentally ill, there has generally been a hands-off attitude. Observe the problems now. Of the 150 million population in the country, as many as 60 million happen to be under the age of 18 years. And of these young, close to 18 per cent suffer from mental disorder of various degrees. Altogether 16 per cent of the overall population is prey to mental problems of various kinds. Compounding the problem is the sheer inadequacy in the number of psychiatrists and psychologists. As a health expert informs us, there are only 150 psychiatrists and psychologists for a mentally challenged population of 15 million in Bangladesh.
These are facts the government must take into immediate consideration. As for patients being discharged from hospitals because of rising medical costs, there are clear risks involved here. It has to do with the fact that those discharged go back home only to have their conditions worsen. The health authorities have a responsibility here in much the same way that they have a responsibility to crack down on corruption in the mental health care system.
In plain terms, there is a huge need for a policy on mental health, especially where treating the mentally challenged is concerned. Looking away from the problem or pretending that it does not exist can only worsen the existing difficulties.
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