NIMHANS to start rural mental health programme

Bengaluru: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences and the Ashraya Hastha Trust have signed an MoU with multiple stakeholders to implement a comprehensive rural mental health programme named “NAMAN” in two different taluks in India, officials said on Saturday.

As of now, the programme is being implemented in Munsiyari taluk of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand and Belur taluk of Hassan district of Karnataka to cater the mental health needs of the whole population of the two taluks. This will also help them to test the feasibility of rolling out such a programme across the country, they said.

The programme plans to follow a lifespan approach, which would cover the entire population from womb to tomb, officials said.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), the national launch of the Comprehensive Mental-Health-Action-Programme for Rural Communities would be held on December 18. The proposed “NAMAN” programme will be completed within a period of three years.

“NIMHANS will develop the roadmap for overall implementation of the programme, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, will collaborate with NIMHANS as a sub-hub for successful implementation of the programme in Uttarakhand. Both NIMHANS, Bengaluru, and AIIMS, Rishikesh, will collaborate with the health departments of the governments of Karnataka and Uttarakhand. The Ashraya Hasta Trust has provided financial assistance for the smooth operation of the programme,” it said in a statement.

“The vision of NAMAN is to implement a comprehensive taluka-level mental health program which incorporates mental health promotion, preventive strategies, treatment of mental disorders, and rehabilitation,” it added.