Public Health Minister Víctor Atallah announced that strengthening the focus on mental health services is a top priority of his administration, El Dia reports. Dr. Victor Atallah, who in his private practice was a functional medicine practitioner, said he is working to strengthen and update protocols and regulations, included those in the Mental Health Law 12-06 that dates back to 2006. He said and adjustments are also being made to the National Mental Health Plan 2024-2030. These efforts aim to safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable individuals.
Dr. Atallah detailed that in this direction, staff at the Ministry of Public Health have conducted an assessment of the physical infrastructure and human resources of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center to identify opportunities for improvement at a facility that has revolutionized the intervention of patients with mental disorders.
“From this assessment, the need arose to resume and put into operation one of its pavilions to expand the number of fixed patients in this unit. Additionally, the opening of new rehabilitation centers in other regions was discussed,” said Dr. Atallah.
He said the Ministry together with the National Health Service (SNS) that manages government hospitals is preparing a plan to establish permanent psychological assistance staff that would initially be deployed in tertiary-level hospitals. There they would conduct a risk assessment and make appropriate referrals to crisis intervention units in cases that warrant it.
Dr. Attalah said the most common mental health disorders among the Dominican population are anxiety, depression and alcoholism. Yet, the recent case of a young woman who committed suicide jumping from her apartment with her five-year old daughter has put the pressure on the Ministry to make mental health services more readily available. The husband of the woman said that he had sought psychological assistance for his wife, but was repeatedly denied this given the limited availability.
As reported in El Dia, although no specific timeline was provided, Dr. Atallah said the Ministry is working on protocols for the care and inclusion of new intervention methods for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as depression in children and adults, dementia, and suicide.
To address the gaps that limit access to and coverage of mental health care, Dr. Atallah says meetings have been had with representatives of the Psychiatric Society, the Dominican College of Psychologists, and the Health Pastoral of the Roman Catholic Church.
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El Dia
27 August 2024