Cured patients languishing in mental healthcare institutions amounts to violation of their rights nhrc chief

Cured patients languishing in mental healthcare institutions amounts to violation of their rights nhrc chief

There are about 2,000 cured patients languishing in mental healthcare institutions which amount to violation of their rights, highlighted National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Arun Mishra on Wednesday. He was speaking at the national conference organised by the Commission on “moving mental health beyond institutions” at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.

“But, the unfortunate situation is that half of them (over 900 patients) are housed in four hospitals in West Bengal. It is a travesty of justice,” the NHRC chief said. He asserted that “a hospital is not a place where cured patients should be allowed to stay even for a single extra day.” He also highlighted that despite the existence of schemes, the country lacks the requisite halfway homes, rehabilitation and occupational therapy units to house recovered patients.

Referring to the visits of the Commission and its special rapporteur to 47 mental healthcare hospitals and institutions from July, 2022 to January, 2023, he said that lack of serious coordination was visible among various agencies such as district administration, the police and the mental health centre officials to facilitate halfway homes or return of cured patients to their families. Their findings resulted in a comprehensive report on the 'status of implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017' in the country and the related challenges. This report was released during the conference.

Justice Mishra asserted that the aim is to achieve dignity through the 2017 Act, which brought a paradigm shift in mental healthcare aimed at protecting human rights and decriminalising suicide attempts. He expressed the hope that there is better coordination among authorities to streamline procedures and improve this situation.

Asserting on greater focus on mental health, Justice Mishra drew attention to the fact that it is estimated that “one out of 10 persons suffers from one or different kinds of mental disorder.” “We face the suicide of approximately 13,000 students yearly besides suicides in jails/semi armed/armed forces. Abuse of elders and workplace stress is to be cared for. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability,” Justice Mishra cautioned.