India News | NHRC to Host National Conference on Mental Healthcare on Wed, Release New Book

New Delhi, Jul 25 (PTI) The NHRC is hosting a national conference on Wednesday to deliberate upon the initiatives taken by the government to address the concerns of the mental healthcare systems and raise awareness to obliterate the stigma attached to the mental health.

The conference by the National Human Rights Commission on 'Moving Mental Health Beyond Institutions' will be held at Vigyan Bhawan, and Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Praveen Pawar will be the chief guest, officials said on Tuesday.

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Other stakeholders including district sessions judges, state health secretaries and commissioners, directors of all state mental healthcare institutions, mental healthcare professionals, subject experts, academicians, representatives of civil society will participate in the conference.

The aim of this conference is to deliberate upon the initiatives taken by the government to address the concerns of the mental healthcare systems and what further needs to be done for better implementation of ‘Mental Healthcare Act, 2017', the NHRC said in a statement.

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The conference also aims to raise awareness to obliterate the stigma attached to the mental health, it said.

In a public interest litigation, the Supreme Court vide its order dated November 11, 1997 mandated the NHRC to monitor mental hospitals in Gwalior and Agra and both hospitals in Ranchi, and to give necessary directions to these institutions from time to time, the statement said.

The Commission expanded the scope of its monitoring to the other mental healthcare institutions of the country and engaged with various stakeholders to suggest measures to the government to improve the mental healthcare system. The Commission has been focusing on bringing in improvements in the health systems of the country, it said.

In the recent past, the Commission visited the mental healthcare institutions and hospitals in Gwalior, Agra and Ranchi. The findings of the conditions in these institutions prompted the Commission to depute its Special Rapporteurs to visit all the 47 mental healthcare institutions in various states, officials said.

"Their findings resulted in a comprehensive report on the 'Status of implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017' in the country and the related challenges. This report will be released during the conference," it said.

The Commission has also worked on a book, 'Mental Health - Concern for All: In Context of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017' and this will also be released on the occasion, officials said.

"The book tries to incorporate significant aspects of mental health, such as the mental health of children, women, geriatric, LGBTQIA+, prison inmates; mental health and homelessness; disaster and mental health, among others. It also includes mental health policies and laws in India to make it serve the purpose of a reference book," it added.

Besides the inaugural and valedictory sessions, during the conference, the deliberations will revolve on the following four thematic areas -- challenges in implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017; infrastructure & human resource of mental health establishments – way forward; rights of persons with mental illness, including reintegration, rehabilitation & empowerment; and latest trends in critical care of mental health, international perspective and the way forward, the statement said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)