ARTICLE - 20 PSYCHIATRISTS IN HAITI

LESS THAN 20 PSYCHIATRISTS FOR MORE THAN 10 MILLION PEOPLE
(Haiti Libre) -

World Mental Health Day (October 10), is an opportunity to talk openly about mental health issues and encourage investment in preventive services, of promotion and treatment. The lack of treatment of mental disorders is considerable, especially in poor countries.

This year the theme of this day is "Investing in mental health". Financial and human resources allocated for mental health are inadequate especially in low resource countries. The majority of low- and middle-income countries spend less than 2% of their health budget on mental health.

Many countries have less than one mental health specialist per one million population. Even a considerable part of the limited resources is spent on large mental hospitals and not for services delivered through community and primary health care.

The First Lady of Haiti, Sophia Martelly is taking the advantage of World Mental Health Day, to remind us that in Haiti, "there are less than 20 psychiatrists for more than 10 million people"; clearly an insufficient number. She says that things will change in the country. "The state can not close its eyes on this. the work will begin today, we will look at the case of these sick people [...] The work will not be easy, but if we are together, we will change the life of these patients who are like us. [...] The Government will find ways to help existing centers and build other centers [...]"

The First Lady of the Republic will participate in a series of activities to mark not only this day, but also set the tone on a new approach for this vulnerable category of compatriots.

- Ceremony at the Ministry of Public Health this morning.
- Visit the Psychiatric Centre on Oswald Durant
- Visit to the Centre de Défilée of Beudet.

This day will be also marked by the launch of the operation, "Tèt Poze, Kè Poze" which consists in identifying the mentally ill who are on the streets for support at the center of Beudet. A toll-free number, 177 will be ​​available to the public to alert the authorities, of the presence of mentally ill people on the streets throughout the country.