Priority for mental health programme, says official

May 26, 2014 10:59 am | Updated 10:59 am IST - MADURAI:

Public and private sectors must join hands and implement the State Mental Health Programme which would benefit a large number of patients, said State Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan here on Saturday.

Inaugurating a de-addiction centre at Velammal Medical College Hospital, he said the Tamil Nadu government gave top priority to the mental health programme. Expressing concern over the low level of awareness of harmful effects of substance abuse among the public, he stressed the need for educating them on its ill-effects.

C. Ramasubramanian, State Nodal Officer, Mental Health Programme, said the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) had been initiated in 16 districts through Central government funding. It had been proposed to extend the programme to nine more districts, he said.

Stressing the need for such programmes, Dr. Ramasubramanian expressed concern that more and more students were getting addicted to drugs, whiteners and alcohol. “All addictions are treatable, curable and preventable. Addicts are neither bad nor mad. It is a sickness which can be treated at de-addiction centres,” he added.

The de-addiction centre at the hospital had been equipped with 20 beds and a recreation centre for patients, said V. Ramanujam, Department of Psychiatry, Velammal Medical College.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the function, Dr. Radhakrishnan said the proposed Regional Cancer Centre would be set up at a site accessible to patients coming from southern districts. Steps were being taken to identify a site. A Tertiary Cancer Centre was likely to come up in Madurai, he added. The Health Secretary, who is on a three-day visit to Madurai, reviewed the construction work of the super-specialty hospital near Anna bus stand and the new mortuary at Government Rajaji Hospital.

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