‘The situation in the country has had a serious impact on mental health’: Minister Sharma

Kathmandu. Minister for Health and Population Dr. Dr. Sudha Gautam Sharma said the current economic, social, cultural and political situation of the country has had a serious impact on the mental health of the citizens.

Talking to media persons after inspecting the Lagankhel-based Mental Hospital on Wednesday, Minister Sharma said that she has been giving priority to mental health since the day she took the oath of office. She said that due to the current national situation, various types of aberrations have emerged in the society which have a direct impact on mental health.

“Mental health has been my top priority since the day I took the oath. The situation that the country is going through has given rise to many problems in the society, which has a direct impact on mental health,” Sharma said.

She said she had seen more patients with mental health problems than she had anticipated during inspections at various hospitals. According to him, women, men, girls and children have to be admitted to hospital beds due to mental problems and there is a significant crowd of patients in the OPD as well.

“It is clear that the mental health sector has not got the expected priority for a long time,” she said, underlining the need of keeping this sector in top priority. She urged the upcoming government to come up with more effective programmes taking mental health as a national priority.

“Mental health hasn’t been as prioritised as it should have been for many years. Let the next government put this issue in high priority and come up with concrete programmes,” she said.