On the occasion of World Health day, the Indian Prime minister stated that the government is taking all steps to ensure quality affordable healthcare for all.
World Health Day:
- The World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7th as the global health awareness day. This year it is centered around the theme Depression: Let’s talk
- The World Health organization is focusing on depression this year as suicide is the leading cause of death among young people
Initiatives taken by the government to ensure affordable healthcare for all:
- The government has launched free drugs and diagnostics for all. This includes universal health screening in 100 districts for hypertension, diabetes and breast, cervical and oral cancers.
- Public health centers will be strengthened and sub centers will be transformed into wellness centers
- India recently passed the long awaited Mental health care bill
Mental health care bill:
- The bill defines mental illness as disorder that impairs the capacity to recognize the ability to meet the ordinary demands of life
- The bill decriminalizes suicide and guarantees the right to better healthcare for people with mental illness
- To ensure that persons with mental illness have the right to live a life with dignity
- Every ensures that every person with mental illness have a right to access mental health care and treatment
- The bill assures free treatment for BPL and homeless people
- A person suffering from mental illness will have right to confidentiality in respect of his mental health and treatment
- The bill also recognizes the right to advance directive for a person suffering from mental illness. This to ensure how a mentally ill person wants to be treated
- The bill empowers the government to create a central mental health authority at the national level and state mental health authority at the state level
- Every institute and practitioner will have to register with the mental health authority
Decriminalizing suicide:
- A person who attempts suicide will be presumed to be mentally ill and will not be punished under the provisions of the Indian penal code
- It will be duty of the government to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation for a person who attempts to commit suicide
