Experts to push for comprehensive mental health data in the upcoming National Family Health Survey, the NFHS-6.
Insufficient data on mental health in the country has made it difficult for experts and health officials to understand the magnitude of the mental health issues among people. It also hinders the implementation of proper policies that will help mitigate the problem.
Dr. Prabha S Chandra, Dean of Behavioural Sciences and Senior Professor of Psychiatry at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) said, “There is no proper available data that covers issues of mental health. The only available data now for this is the National Medical Health Survey by NIMHANS which focuses on mental health specifically in the rural parts of India only. Also, this was published a decade ago.” She also said that this data is only for adult mental health. Serious issues of child and adolescent mental health are yet to be documented.
She was speaking in a panel discussion- ‘SVASTI- a National Consultation on charting a road map for mental health care in India’ organised by United Way, a non-profit organisation that focuses on innovative programs in education, healthcare, environment, and livelihood in partnership with NIMHANS and the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India.
She added that the latest available National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data, The NFHS-5, also does not have any data regarding mental health, apart from the information regarding substance use among people.
Pravin Jha, an independent consultant in the public health sector for more than 20 years said that data regarding mental health is essential for prioritising the problem and addressing the magnitude of the problem.
“The mental health data that is available now covers only 12 selected states of the nation and more information is essential for the proper implementation of the government policies,” he added. Dr.Shekhar Seshadri, former Director and Dean of Behavioural Sciences and a retired professor of Psychiatry department at NIMHANS and an advisor for Support, Advocacy and Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances and Distress (SAMVAD), a national initiative and integrated resource for Child Protection, Mental Health and Psychosocial care said that mental health, especially child and adolescent mental health is a ticking time bomb.
SAMVAD addresses mental health issues specific to children and adolescents, where a paper co-written by Shekhar Seshadri shows that Bbarriers to implementation of Child and Adolescent Mental Health(CAMH) servicesin low and middle-income countries include shortage of CAMH specialists, insufficient financial resources, a paucity of culturally-appropriate methods and materials for intervention.
“Policy is not worth the paper it is written on, if not executed,” Dr. Shekhar added.
Further, Dr. Prabha S Chandra said that collecting and creating a good level of data that is segregated in terms of age, gender and all requires commitment from officials and enough funding. If proper data is available, then we will know where to put money and where to focus on.
“In the upcoming edition of the National Family Health Survey, the NFHS-6, it is our duty to push for this proper data on mental health,” Dr.Prabha said.
