DOH’s mental health program boosted with P220M, AO

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial (RADYO INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA — Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial on Thursday signed an administrative order (AO) on the implementation of the agency’s mental health program even as its budget for 2017 has been increased to P220 million.

“It contains a comprehensive framework of how the mental health program will be implemented at all levels of the health system, like health rural unit, the barangay health station, and even in the community: How it will be implemented, who will be in charge, and what strategies and activities will happen at the community level,” Ubial told reporters on the sidelines of the 2nd Public Health Convention on Mental Health.

Before the AO was signed, the mental health program only had a pilot-basis implementation.

“So if somebody had an intervention, they go to the community, they do it, but it’s not, shall we say, uniformly implemented in all, for example, RHUs. With an administrative order, it defines the nationwide implementation of the program,” the official explained.

“If we don’t have an AO, people do not know what to do, everybody is doing their own thing. There are no standards across the country. That’s one thing we’re trying to do–standardize and identify the services at each level of healthcare delivery system and also identify human resources that would be needed,” she said.

In the Philippines, she admitted there has been “very little investment in mental health.”

“We’ll change this landscape, this paradigm. We are in the process of advocating for the passage of first ever Mental Health Law in the Philippines so that our investments in mental health will really be at
forefront of health agenda,” Ubial added.

From a P36-million program in 2016, she said the Department of Health has proposed a 2017 budget of P220 million for the mental health program.

“That’s mostly for advocacy, for trainings and the medicines especially for indigent patients,” Ubial added.

Under the department’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program, meanwhile, P1 billion will be allocated for the improvement of the country’s mental health facilities.

“There’s a lot of congestion, and inhumane and really bad situation with regards to our mental health facilities. Hopefully with this budget, we can address this problems,” the health official said.

“Our budget and our direction is really to upgrade the existing, we will not add anything new because the concept is really a community-based mental health program. So more or less the facility-based will be for acute care,” Ubial explained.

Senator Risa Hontiveros filed last week Senate Bill 1190 or the Mental Health Act of 2016.  SFM