Ejercito to DOH: Address psychological needs of Marawi evacuees

Senator JV Ejercito. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito urged on Thursday the Health department to look into the possible occurrence of “mental health crisis” in evacuation centers housing refugees from the war-torn city of Marawi.

“I am calling on the Department of Health (DOH) to act swiftly and attend to the reported ‘mental health crisis’ in evacuation centers temporarily housing residents displaced by the ongoing war in Marawi City,” Ejercito said in a statement.

The senator from San Juan, who chairs the Senate health and demography committee, said DOH should immediately dispatch a team of mental health experts to the evacuation centers, where cases of mental disorder or mental degeneration among the evacuees had been suspected.

“While I hope this mental health issue is a false alarm, what’s important is that we look into this matter, provide the necessary medical and counseling intervention to evacuees manifesting disturbance, and provide immediate curative measures,” the senator said.

Ejercito said that the Senate health committee will be expecting a situational report from the mental health experts, assuring them as well that the legislative body will be acting upon its report urgently and appropriately.

Almost two months since the fight between government troops and Islamic State-inspired Maute terrorist group broke out, more than 230,000 residents left Marawi City and nearly 40,000 stayed in evacuation centers in neighboring areas in Lanao del Sur province particularly in Iligan City.

Some children in evacuation centers were also reportedly “traumatized” according to local health offices. JPV