‘Will set up more centres to help those in need’

WE PLAN TO SPEND A LARGE PART OF THE BUDGET TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

using yoga to setting up centres in rural areas, the state has various plans to create awareness about mental ailments, said Dr Vijay Satbir Singh, additional chief secretary, health. Excerpts from an interview: reach out to the rural population We are training the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers. They will visit households with a simple questionnaire which can help detect signs of depression.

The patient can then be referred to psychiatrists. We are also training our helpline staff to address the issue of depression across professions and classes, so they can get counselling. will be hired on a contractual or honorary basis and the ones working for us will undergo additional post-graduate degree programmes. We will also get experts from different fields such as Aayurveda, Siddhha and other alternate medicine degree-holders to join our scheme. Paramedical staff and social workers will be trained to fill the void. We have a large network of small and large medical establishments across the state, which will house a wellness and counseling centre each. Yoga and meditation will be promoted as an effective tool. A well-connected chain of 2,000 diagnostic centres, to be set up at a cost of Rs150crore, will come into action in the next two months.

Telemedicine will be used effectively. Conference centres will be built in the most tribal and distant areas, so experts can connect with people through video-conferencing. Many pilot projects are underway.

The network will gradually grow.