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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Go: Proposed specialty centers should also offer mental health services   

Go: Proposed specialty centers should also offer mental health services   

Published May 10, 2023 01:54 am
Mental health services should also be one of the medical services that must be offered in the proposed specialty centers to be established within Department of Health (DOH) hospitals nationwide.   Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, advocated for the inclusion of mental health services during the Senate Committee on Health’s hearing on the status of the implementation of the Mental Health Act.   "Mental health is one of the specialties which we aim to make accessible across all regions," Go said in an interview with reporters.    "The specialty centers, like the (Philippine) Heart Center, NKTI (National Kidney Institute of the Philippines), the (Philippine) Lung Center, let’s put in place these kind of specialty centers within existing equipped DOH hospitals to make it accessible in various regions," he explained.   On Tuesday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian reiterated his belief that a mental health pandemic is now taking place in the Philippines as studies show an increase in suicides from 2019 to 2020.   Gatchalian cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing that reported suicide cases have increased from 2,810 in 2019 to 4, 420 in 2020.    The DOH data also showed there were 712 suicide calls reported in 2019, and which jumped to 2,821 in 2020 and 5,167 in 2021, or during the height of the global Covid-19 pandemic.   “The pandemic of mental health is already here…That’s scary because people are becoming hopeless, don’t see the need to call the hotline,” Gatchalian pointed out at the hearing.    Go earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1321, or the proposed "Specialty Centers in Every Region Act of 2022", which aims to establish specialty centers in select DOH hospitals throughout the Philippines, with mental health services as one of the specialties included.   Aside from mental health services, Go said the proposed specialty centers will also cater to other medical specialties such as cardiology, renal, neonatal, cancer, among others.    Meanwhile, acknowledging the stigma associated with mental health issues, which often makes it difficult for people to seek help, Go encouraged Filipinos to seek mental health services at the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City where a Malasakit Center is located.   "I encourage our youth to avail of medical check-up at the NCMH (National Center for Mental Health). There is a Malasakit Center there and you can approach the PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation), PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office), DOH, DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), to help you pay off the expenses especially those who are poor and or indigent patients,” assured Go, who is the principal author and sponsor of the Malasakit Centers Act.    

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Senator Bong Go mental health services The Department of Health (DOH) mental health
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