PANAJI
The Goa health department's initiative to tackle depression through community programmes and its network of primary healthcare centres across the State has thrown up revealing facts including that women outnumber men by almost 100 per cent among those diagnosed as living with depression.
Of the 540 being counselled to get out of depression, 371 are women.
The initiative 'Impress' is being run through the primary health centres, community health centres and other government healthcare facilities in association with Sangath, an NGO.
Over 68 per cent of those diagnosed as dealing with depression were women and are being counselled. Also, those in the 45-54 age bracket were most vulnerable according to data available.
Through the initiative, Goa according to Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is the first State in India to include mental health screening and counselling at the primary healthcare level.
Styled 'Impress' the initiative involves Sangath's mental health experts training select medical professionals from the government's PHCs who then screen and counsel patients under strict supervision of professionals and experts.
Nearly 90 health workers from Goa's PHCs have already been trained and are currently engaged in implementing the initiative under which over 75,000 people have already been screened of which almost 10 per cent (approximately 7,000) have been listed as suffering from depression.
However, only 540 of those diagnosed with depression have agreed to their personal info including gender and age being recorded. Others preferred to keep these details confidential, according to the project head.
Sangath, which is providing the expertise including services of professional Psychiatrists and trained counsellors, claims it is partnered in this by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, the Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mount Sinai Hospital, Ontario, Canada and the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
