Need to invest in mental health
There is no denying the importance of the awareness of mental illness as a growing health concern in Bangladesh. According to the World Health Organization, mental disorders affect 16.1 percent of adults and 18.4 percent of children in the country. Despite the enormity of the issue and the need for improved services, Bangladesh seems to be walking in the opposite direction. As a report by The Daily Star on October 10 shows, mental health institutes are failing to provide necessary services. The Pabna Mental Hospital, the country's first specialised hospital for patients suffering from mental illnesses, is grossly underfunded and understaffed, with only 14 doctors, although there is a stated need for 111 doctors and experts. The demand for services grew manifold since the 200-bed facility was turned into a 500-bed one some 21 years ago, but there has been no change in the quality or quantity of services. Imagine the sufferings that patients have to go through as a result.
This is more or less the picture in all our mental health institutes. According to a UN survey published in May, the share of GDP given to health in Bangladesh has fallen from 1.1 percent in 2010 to 0.8 percent in 2017, and is now the lowest among 21 countries of south, southwest and southeast Asia. The share of the national budget allocated to health has been shrinking consistently—and only a fraction of that budget is spent on mental health. Failure to acknowledge the gravity of mental health issues, however, seems to be a national phenomenon. Patients often talk about how they have to face the double whammy of poor services at hospital and poor treatment at home, by family members. This needs to change if we are to tackle the growing mental health problem with any degree of success.
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