For the first time ever, the Economic Survey 2023-24 talks extensively about mental health, its significance and implications on policy recommendations.
The Survey notes that as per the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16, 10.6% adults in India suffered from mental disorders while treatment gap for mental disorders ranged between 70% and 92% for different disorders.
The prevalence of mental morbidity was higher in urban metro regions (13.5%) as compared to rural areas (6.9%) and urban non-metro areas (4.3%).
The survey recommends re-doubling efforts to increase the number of psychiatrists, from 0.75 psychiatrists per lakh population in 2021 to the WHO norm of 3 per lakh population.
Recognizing mental health as a fundamental aspect of overall well-being, the Survey underscores key initiatives and policies taken by the Government in this regard:
- National Mental Health Programme: Under the District Mental Health Programme of this scheme, more than 1.73 lakh Sub Health Centres, Primary Health Centres, Urban PHCs and Urban Health and Wellness Centres were upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs providing mental health services.
- National Tele Mental Health Programme: With over 1600 trained counselors in over 20 languages, 53 Tele MANAS cells were set up in 34 states/UTs and more than 8.07 lakh calls handled since Oct 2022, as of 31 March 2024.
- Increasing mental health personnel: 25 Centres of Excellence were sanctioned to increase PG students’ intake, support provided to 19 Government medical colleges/institutions to strengthen 47 PG Departments, mental health services provisioned for 22 AIIMS, and three Digital Academies providing online training courses to general healthcare medical and paramedical professionals set up.
- Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram: Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHC) and Peer education programmes were conducted across the country.
