There is only one psychiatrist per 156,000 mental patients in the country, showing a critical gap in the care for patients. According to experts, the health care sector is in a state of negligence, needing further care for itself, as it is the silent killer of economic growth.
There are only 160 psychiatrists per about 2.5 crore mental patients in the country. Citing a survey conducted in 2005, Prof. Dr Waziul Alam Chowdhury, director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (NIMHH), told The Independent, about 16 per cent people were suffering from some kind of psychiatric problems, of which, he added, one per cent was severely ill.
Another survey, conducted in 2010, revealed that about 18 per cent of the child and adolescent population were affected by some sort of mental disorder, Chowdhury mentioned.
He said the ratio of patients to psychiatrists and other care-givers, including nurses and therapists, was too poor.
The NIMHH director, however, said the government had taken some measures to train doctors, nurses and field-level workers to deal with patients at the primary level.
As part of these measures, the government, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), had trained about 25,000 doctors.
Chowdhury said the process to align metal health care with the primary health care service had already started so that patients could avail of primary treatment at the community level.
He also emphasised the need for creating awareness among people about mental health, and according social and family support to patients.
The NIMHH chief termed psychiatric issues as multi-factorial genetic problems, caused by social and mental pressure, coupled with environmental condition.
He said the treatment cost of psychiatric patients was not high as low-cost local medicines were available in the country. He, however, added that some patients needed long-term treatment.
Chowdhury said 80 per cent of patients could recover after receiving regular treatment.
Dr Tanmay Prakash Biswas, an associate professor at Pabna Medical College, said there was a need for more psychiatrists to deal with the huge number of mental patients.
He said that WHO recommended community-based mental health management for Bangladesh so that patients could get family and social support.
Tanmay also underlined the need for rehabilitation of patients after treatment.
He said the country’s economy incurred silent loss owing to the growing number of psychiatric patients, most of whom were aged between 18 and 40.
Tanmay, who is also a consultant physician at the Pabna Mental Hospital, said doctors generally had little interest to take any of the major degrees, such as MPhil, MD and FCPS, to be a psychiatrist.
He said 350 non-paying beds of the 500-bed Pabna Mental Hospital always remained occupied, whereas of the 150 paying beds, around 50 usually remained vacant.
Tariqul Alam Sumon, the residential physician (RP) at NIMHH, said there were currently about 150 admitted patients in the 200-bed hospital. He said the number of patients was on the rise. Sumon said that a patient generally required hospital care for a month, after which they became stable and fit for normal life.
In addition to the two specialised government institutes, treatment was also available at government medical colleges.
-With The Independent input
