BENGALURU: To address the mental health needs in rural communities that include preventive treatment and rehabilitation aspects of the population, the ‘NAMAN’ programme — a mental healthcare initiative tailored for rural communities — was launched virtually by Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday.
The programme, led by Ashraya Hastha Trust in association with health departments (of Karnataka and Uttarakhand) and NIMHANS, was launched in two taluks in the country — Belur taluk, Hassan district in Karnataka and Munsiyari taluk, Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.
Sharing details of the programme, Dinesh, managing trustee, Ashraya Hastha Trust, said, “Every individual should have equitable access to mental health care. Through NAMAN, we aim to take mental health to the remotest place. The programme will not only treat mental illness but take measures to prevent it. We will not follow the top-down approach but learn from the community and will cover the entire population - from womb to the tomb.”
NIMHANS Director Dr Pratima Murthy said, “NAMAN programme is one of the new era of mental health awareness and treatment in rural India. Karnataka is the first state to launch a district and taluk level mental health programme.”
While the NAMAN programme, envisaged over a three-year horizon, is poised to become a paradigm for holistic mental health intervention, Gundu Rao said that the state health department has been taking multiple initiatives towards mental health care and based on the outcome of this programme, the same will be extended to other districts.