State to ramp up psychiatric care

Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the Schizophrenia Research Foundation

August 22, 2014 02:15 am | Updated 02:15 am IST - CHENNAI:

The State government is considering setting up child guidance, geriatric care, suicide prevention and de-addiction clinics, in order to focus better on psychiatric issues.

“We already have a district mental health programme in place across 16 districts, and we are attempting to make it State-wide. In addition to this, we want to set up these clinics for a more committed approach to mental health. We also want to ensure that caregivers are sufficiently educated, stigma is eradicated and people with mental illnesses are given a better quality of life and eventually, rejoin the community,” said J. Radhakrishnan, State health secretary.

Mr. Radhakrishnan was speaking at the inauguration of IConS VI, an international conference on schizophrenia organised by the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) on Thursday. He also said that the government could learn from and obtain insights about recent trends in psychiatric care from the event.

The conference, which has over 500 delegates – including 60 from abroad – attending will focus on clinical approaches and research into schizophrenia. Thursday also marked the 30th anniversary of SCARF, said director R. Thara.

“Over the years, SCARF has begun initiatives in a number of areas. In 2010, for instance, we began a diplomate in psychiatry. In 2011, we began mobile tele-psychiatry unit. And, we are probably one of the only NGOs recognised by the WHO as a collaborating centre for mental health research and training,” Dr. Thara said.

World Psychiatric Association incoming president Dinesh Bhugra said the west did not have all the answers. “What is it we can learn from each other – that is important,” he said. The conference is supported by the World Psychiatric Association, the World Association for Social Psychiatry (WASP) and the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS).

Sarada Menon, founder of SCARF, president R. Seshasayee, Thomas Craig of the WASP and T.V. Asokan, president of IPS also participated.

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