On Monday, when the world observed World Mental Health Day, Bangalore was gifted with the NIMHANS Centre for Well-Being, which was inaugurated at BTM Layout. The centre aims at promoting mental health by being a hub for information, training and counselling, and to provide services for mental health and substance use disorders.
Speaking after the inauguration of the centre, P. Satish Chandra, Director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) spoke about reaching out to more people. He requested the State Government to allocate about 100 acres of land in north Bangalore to cater to the population in that part of the city. “People from there find it difficult to negotiate the traffic and come all the way here (to south Bangalore). A centre there would be useful,” he said. He announced that Krishnarajapura MLA Nandish Reddy had promised them 50 acres of Government land on Hennur Road for this purpose.
Responding to Dr. Chandra's request, S.A. Ramdas, Medical Education Minister, said the institute should look at north Karnataka too, and not confine itself to the city. “We are ready to hand over Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences to NIMHANS. You can treat it as your own unit,” he said.
Mr. Ramdas announced a proposal for another pilot project during the occasion. On the lines of nursing staff being trained to be mental health workers, he said ASHA workers could also be trained similarly. “The ASHA workers are familiar with the families living in the areas they are working in. As an experiment, we can train ASHA workers from Mysore at NIMHANS,” he suggested.
Minister for Urban Development S. Suresh Kumar, who was present on behalf of Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, said the District Mental Health Programme may be extended in the near future. “Only 2 per cent of our medical budget is spent on mental health. A large amount out of this is spent on establishing mental hospitals rather than on providing services through primary health care centres,” he said.
For details about the Centre for Well-Being, call 9480829670.
