VIJAYAWADA: All the primary health centres (PHCs) in Krishna district are soon going to have a mental health programme every day. Currently, the mental health programme is conducted once in a week according to the district schedule.
Owing to the hike in number of patients suffering with mental disorders such as anxiety and depression being reported in the district, the officials have planned to conduct these daily.
The health department had initiated the mental health services in all PHCs on February 15, 2019. The medical staff at PHCs were also provided training on treating mental illness.According to the officials, a majority of the cases are related to personal counselling, addictions and depression related issues.
Speaking to TNIE, Krishna DMHO I Ramesh said, “The mental health programme has been receiving good response. Since many people are apprehensive of visiting a psychiatrist, they approach the PHCs to get treated. So we are planning to make it available all through the week, though the final nod regarding this is yet to be made.”
It may be added here that the government psychiatry department which is located in the old government general hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada still lacks a proper clinical psychiatrist to treat the patients who seek assistance and care. Despite having several private clinics in the city, the old GGH receives numerous patients everyday.
Over 100 outpatient cases are treated on a daily basis and 30 beds are available for in-patient wards. But due to the lack of adequate strength of doctors, the ailments are not being treated properly, as all psychiatric disorders need ample amount of time for proper counselling and multiple sessions for the treatment to be effective.