NEW DELHI: The national tele-mental health programme will reach people in remote areas so that they can access these critical services. It will also help removing stigma. “It is necessary to provide a complementarity of services for people who need mental healthcare,” said Dr Pratima Murthy, Director and Senior Professor of Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, at a Twitter Live on Wednesday.
The programme will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence with NIMHANS being the nodal centre. Speaking on the importance of psychosocial wellbeing during the pandemic, Dr Murthy said the new programme will be able to provide “equitable mental healthcare to everyone.”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the national tele-mental health programme on Tuesday at the Union Budget. The programme will provide 24x7 free counselling and care. “I think this is a great opportunity, and we’ve all been concerned about it earlier as everyone needs access to it.” Dr Murthy said the middle and upper-class at least know about mental healthcare and could get access to it. “We are looking at strengthening primary care and having a psychiatrist at the district level and other mental healthcare professionals.”
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