Tele-mental health project to go nat’l
With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting not just one’s physical but also psychological and emotional health, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the roll-out of the national tele-mental health programme to improve access to quality mental health counselling across the country.
While presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, Ms Sitharaman also announced an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem, which will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework and universal access to health facilities.
The minister said the 'National Tele Mental Health' programme will be operated under a network of 23 mental health centres of excellence under National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). The International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIT-B) will be providing technological support to the programme.
The centre for psychosocial support in disaster management at NIMHANS had launched a nationwide toll-free 24×7 helpline to address the mental health and psychosocial concerns of the public during the pandemic and lockdown. Currently, the government is also operating the SAMVEDNA tele-counselling service that offers psychological support to children to address their stress, anxiety, fear, and other issues during the pandemic.
In the budget, the government has proposed an allocation of Rs 86,200.65 crore to the health sector, a hike of 16 percent over Rs 73,931 crore in 2021-22. Out of Rs 86,200.65 crore, Rs 83,000 crore have been allocated to the department of health and family welfare while Rs 3,200 crore have been allocated to the department of health research.
The government has increased the budgetary allocation for central sector schemes and projects from Rs 10,566 crore to Rs 15,163 crore. Among the central sector schemes, the allocation for the Pardhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has been raised from Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore.