Deputy Minister for Collective Health Eladio Perez explained that the lack of psychiatrists, and the concentration of these in the two main cities Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago, is a challenge for quality mental care for the Dominican population.
Dr. Perez explained that to deal with the situation, the government is expanding the existing Crisis Intervention Units. He said a psychosocial center is opening in Moca (Espaillat province) and another in Higüey (La Altagracia province, in addition to the already established one for Greater Santo Domingo at Km 28 of the Duarte Highway.
“We have great challenges in the human resources part, in terms of psychiatry, since there are around 257 and only 197 working in the public hospital network. It is very little for the country,” said Dr. Perez.
To mitigate the situation, the Ministry of Public Health operates a hotline with psychologists. Dr. Perez explained that people between 21 and 38 years of age make 67% of calls to the “Take care of your health” hotline.
He explained the reasons for the calls are:
Sadness – 60%
Anxiety – 50%
Anguish – 49%
Insomnia – 39%
Anger – 19%
Lack of appetite – 17%
Suicidal thoughts – 16%
Guilt – 14%
67% of the users of the hotline are women and 33% men. Of the calls, 38.8% are received from Santo Domingo; 7.7% from Santiago and 4% from San Cristóbal.
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Diario Libre
14 December 2023