Health Minister Directs Nationwide Expansion of Mental Health Services

Kathmandu. Under the direction of Health and Food Sanitation Minister Nisha Mehta, the ministry will mobilize the mechanisms of the federal, provincial, and local levels with the objective of expanding mental health services, treatment, and public awareness nationwide.

In this regard, a meeting chaired by Ministry Secretary Bikash Devkota was held online with the participation of ministry division and center chiefs, health secretaries of all seven provinces, directors of health directorates, and representatives from the World Health Organization.

The meeting decided to effectively conduct mental health awareness programs at the community level through the existing health structures of the federal, provincial, and local levels. The ministry has stated that emphasis will be placed on mental health education in schools, community mobilization, facilitation for patients undergoing treatment, and counseling and monitoring for Nepalis working abroad and their families.

To make mental health services and information accessible, extensive publicity will be given to the mental health hotline 1166 and Hello Health 1115, along with contact numbers of nearby health institutions. It has also been decided to conduct a public awareness campaign through mobile ring backtones, social media, posters, video messages, TikTok reels, and online counseling.

The meeting decided to mobilize female community health volunteers, school health nurses, teachers, youth clubs, Saami projects, and human resources from non-governmental organizations working in the field of mental health in an integrated manner. Additionally, yoga, meditation, and psychosocial services under Ayurveda will also be linked to the campaign.

The ministry has also stated that it is moving forward with preparations to publicize the mental health services available in hospitals, ensure the stock of free medicines, integrate mental health services into regular health services, and establish psychosocial health desks in hospitals as needed.

Similarly, the meeting decided to update and mobilize the details of human resources trained in mental health, search for and bring back patients who have dropped out of treatment (defaulters) for re-treatment, identify individuals with hidden mental health problems and bring them into the treatment net, and prepare criteria for mobilizing scholarship doctors.

The meeting concluded that preliminary programs will be initiated within the remaining period of the current fiscal year, and a more effective nationwide campaign will be launched from the upcoming fiscal year's Shrawan, and that mental health will be advanced by linking it with community-based counseling and services rather than institutional health services.