Country do not have enough psychiatrists, says Saima Wazed

Saima Wazed Putul, Chairperson of Shuchona Foundation and member of WHO’s Expert Advisory Panel on mental health, said that there is a shortage of psychiatrists in our country compared to patients. Even for those doctors who are there, there is not enough training.

She said, “There is not enough research on mental health in our country. Doctors are not getting the necessary training on mental health. They need a lot more training on this.”

Saima Wazed Putul said this while participating virtually in a workshop entitled ‘Review of mental health care at the community level’ at the conference room of the National Mental Health Institute and Hospital on Sunday (November 6).

There should be a regulatory committee on mental health in Bangladesh, but there is none, said Saima Wazed Putul.

She further said, it did not happen in the last 15 years. Without this committee, we would not understand who or who is providing appropriate mental health treatment.

Optimistically, she said, “We have a mental health institute, it just needs to be improved. Mental health treatment is not very good in any country. There are many opportunities to work on this in our country.”

Saima Wazed said there is a shortage of psychiatrists in Bangladesh. Besides, Bangladesh has several tasks in the field of mental health including the formulation of laws, policies and strategies. It is now necessary to bring mental health services to the doorsteps of the people at the grass root level. Along with mental health care, it is also important to create awareness about mental health among people.

He said, if there is no service center in any hospital, there will be no good treatment. So, there is no benefit in just building a new hospital. In addition to increasing beds in hospitals, we need more training for those who are providing medical care.