Doctors to be trained to detect depression, provide basic psychiatric care – Dr Anthony

Doctors countrywide will be trained to detect depression and provide basic psychiatric care to the population, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony announced on Tuesday as part of Government’s overall efforts to place more emphasis on mental health.
He made the announcement at a ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent Health Unit in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO), UNICEF and Desert Flower Guyana for the Launch of World Mental Health Awareness Day 2022 Activities and the “Do Your Share” Campaign.

Dr Anthony said the ultimate goal of the Government is to reduce mental health cases in the country and provide the necessary support to ensure the health and well-being of all Guyanese. He said the intention of the Health Ministry is to make mental health programmes more community-oriented.
“We’re deinstitutionalising our patients…and we want to treat more of our patients within the community. For us to do that, we have to train our doctors so that they will be able to offer basic psychiatric care at the community level, and the plan is that all the persons who are working at the health centre level would be trained over the next couple of years,” Dr Anthony said.
Another important aspect, he said, is to train doctors to detect depression. “If we are able to detect depression early, it means we will be able to work with those patients and we will be able to prevent cases of suicide.”
These initiatives form part of a 2022-2028 mental health plan developed by local authorities with support from PAHO.
Other significant components of that plan are working in schools to address substance abuse and to work in rural areas to prevent suicide.
Dr Anthony emphasised that a lot of mental health issues remain invisible to people and this is a stigma that needs to be addressed. “This is something that we don’t see and very often we might be affected but we sometimes don’t know that we are suffering from various mental health issues.
He reminded that mental health illnesses cover a wide spectrum of some 22 categories that speaks to more than 250 disease entities.
This can range from matters of autism, which people are born with, to neurodegenerative diseases which are developed when people get older. Regardless of the situation, the Health Minister said it is the Government’s role to develop policies to ensure every citizen is included in society.
In fact, he posited that over the last two years, there has already been significant transformation of the mental health environment, referring to the passage of the Mental Health Bill. According to the Health Minister, the previous legislation was utterly outdated.
“Back then, they used to see the patient as someone you need to take away from society and lock them up in an institution so that they are not in contact because somehow these patients were a danger to society… that’s not the approach we have now. Our approach is a rights-based approach,” he noted.

Dr Anthony also underscored the importance of striking a better work-life balance, indicating that this is something that needs to be promoted more.
“In a world where we have so much stress and where we are always in a hustle and a bustle, it is sometimes, people fail to cope and it becomes a big challenge…,” he expressed.
Meanwhile, the overall objective of the commemorative activities on World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilise efforts in support of mental health.
Observed on October 10, the day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and highlight the needed efforts to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide. The mental health awareness activities are being observed under the theme “Creating Hope through Action”. The vision behind this theme is to work towards the achievement of universal health coverage.
These activities are intended to increase awareness on suicide prevention, mental health and reduce the stigma attached to mental health illnesses.
Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO Representative to Guyana, Dr Luis Codina said that Guyana has undertaken a new approach through the development of the new mental health laws which focuses on the aspects of human rights, social protection and health promotion.
Moreover, Nicolas Pron, UNICEF Representative to Guyana and Suriname said that his organisation recognises mental health as a global priority and will continue to work with its partners to ensure the rights and well-being of all children across Guyana.
Also present at the event were Director of Primary Health Care Services, Dr Ertensia Hamilton; Adolescent Health Coordinator, Cilandell Glenn; Dr Timothy Morgan of the Mental Health Unit; Representative of Desert Flower Guyana, Abigail Fraser and Miss World Guyana Andrea King. (G11)