PANAJI
Following a direction from the Goa State Human Rights Commission, the government has formed a nine-member committee that will regularly assess the rehabilitation of patients treated for mental health issues.
The committee will periodically oversee the implementation of a roadmap for rehabilitating persons who have been treated for mental illnesses.
The GSHRC, in its directives issued in January this year, had highlighted the rehabilitation of persons after they are discharged following treatment at the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB), the government facility at Bambolim, as well as in other mental healthcare delivery institutions in the State.
Also in place is a larger State-level committee, headed by the State’s Health Secretary ” the Goa State Mental Health Authority ” which is tasked with the responsibility of registering all mental health establishments in Goa, except those already registered, and publishing a register of such institutions, including online. The authority is also required to develop quality service provision standards for the different types of mental health institutions and to supervise them.
Apart from the Health Secretary, the Authority comprises the Additional Secretary (Health), Director of Health Services, Director of Social Welfare, Joint Secretary (Home), Joint Secretary (Finance), Joint Secretary (Law), and the Head of the Psychiatry Department of Goa Medical College and Hospital.
Eleven other non-official members, drawn from a pool of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, mental health social workers, nurses with more than 15 years’ experience in mental health care delivery, and caregivers, are also part of the Authority.
