Press Release/29 March 2019
Department of Health (DOH) – CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) yesterday concluded the 2ndbatch of health workers who attended the 4-day “Training on Mental Health Global Action Program (MHGAP)” for municipal and city health officers, nurses and mental health coordinators of the region held in Quezon City from March 26-29, 2019.
“One of the biggest barrier to the management and treatment of mental health illness in the country is the lack of qualified health personnel to do the job of properly identifying the illness and providing the appropriate treatment,” Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo stated.
“The growing number of people with mental health problems must be given importance and the only way to immediate recognize them is to provide the knowledge and skills to our health workers, especially in the community where most of untreated mental illness are prevalent,” he added.
There are only 600 licensed psychiatrist in the country. The regional office has already trained a total of 70 health workers for CALABARZON to augment and provide the necessary identification and treatment of mental illness in the community.
The four-day training course was conducted by the non-communicable disease unit and includes proven mental health practices that will provide health workers to recognize the early signs and symptoms of mental illness and substance abuse.
Participants were taught to listen without judgment and respond to and help an individual in distress and provide the basic mental health first aid until they get the professional care they need.
According to Janairo, mental illness affects not only the individual but the family as well which can result to financial strain, job loss and also psychological problem to a family member by trying to help a mentally ill relative”.
The mhGAP Training was conducted by the Non-Communicable Disease Control Unit under the Mental Health Program led by Paulina A. Calo, Nurse V and a team of mental health specialists from the National Center for Mental Health, Quirino Memorial Medical Center Psychiatric Department, Dementia Society of the Philippines, Department of Neurosciences of the University of the Philippines, Neurology Department.
DOH CALABARZON Nurse V and Mental Health Coordinator emphasizes the importance of the Mental Health Global Action Plan (mhGAP) Training to municipal and city health officers and mental health coordinators in identifying early symptoms of persons with mental illness in their community during the 4-day training held in Quezon City from March 26-29, 2019
Dr. D. Darwin Dasig, one of the mental health specialist from the Makati Medical Center discusses the signs and symptoms of a patient with attention deficit disorder to participants of the 2nd Batch of Mental Health Global Action Plan Training held in Quezon City on March 26-29, 2019.
