Rangaswamy Thara, Grover Sandeep, Tyagi Vidhi, Bhan Anant
Schizophrenia Research Foundation, Chennai, India.
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Schizophr Bull Open. 2022 Oct 18;3(1):sgac043. doi: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgac043. eCollection 2022 Jan.
India with a population of 1.3 billion has a unique health care system in its different states. Mental health care varies widely across the country and this became even more apparent after the COVID-19 pandemic set in. This paper examines the various strategies in response to COVID-19 adopted by the Government of India, the health departments of the individual states, and other private players such as on-government organizations and the civil society. The cessation of many services including outpatient and inpatient care and the scarcity of medicines were serious impacts of COVID-19. The prolonged lockdown in many parts of the country impeded access to mental health care services since public transport was unavailable. This led to many relapses in persons with serious mental disorders. The emergence of new cases of psychosis and an increase in suicides were also seen. Tele consultations came to the fore and many helplines were started offering counseling and guidance regarding the availability of mental health care facilities. While these helped the urban dwellers, those in remote and rural areas were unable to use these services effectively. Many mental health wards were used for COVID-19 patients and mental health professionals were deployed for COVID-19 related duty. The severely mentally ill, the homeless mentally ill, and the elderly were especially vulnerable. Based on our experience with COVID-19, we urge a strong call for action, in terms of strengthening the primary care facilities and increasing the manpower resources to deliver mental health care.
印度拥有13亿人口，其不同邦有着独特的医疗保健系统。全国范围内的心理健康护理差异很大，在新冠疫情爆发后，这种差异变得更加明显。本文考察了印度政府、各邦卫生部门以及诸如非政府组织和民间社会等其他私营机构针对新冠疫情所采取的各种应对策略。包括门诊和住院护理在内的许多服务的中断以及药品短缺是新冠疫情带来的严重影响。由于公共交通停运，该国许多地区的长期封锁阻碍了人们获得心理健康护理服务。这导致许多严重精神障碍患者病情复发。还出现了新的精神病病例，自杀率也有所上升。远程会诊开始发挥重要作用，许多热线电话开始提供有关心理健康护理设施可用性的咨询和指导。虽然这些对城市居民有帮助，但偏远和农村地区的居民无法有效利用这些服务。许多心理健康病房被用于收治新冠患者，心理健康专业人员被调派执行与新冠相关的任务。严重精神疾病患者、无家可归的精神病患者和老年人尤其脆弱。基于我们应对新冠疫情的经验，我们强烈呼吁采取行动，加强初级保健设施并增加提供心理健康护理的人力资源。
