Excelsior Correspondent
GANDERBAL, Aug, 23: The SAWAB Centre of Voluntary Medicare Society, organised a mental health workshop here today to generate awareness about different kinds of mental health problems confronting the people.
It was revealed at the workshop that before 1990 around on an average 1700 persons per year used to approach the Valley’s only psychiatric hospital and during next five years it touched 18, 000 and doubled in next five years.
Dr Mir Mohammad Maqbool, noted ENT specialist and founder president of VMS, formally inaugurated the workshop and launched the Psychological Intervention Initiative in the district.
Noted psychiatrist, Dr Mushtaq Margoob, who is the Principal Investigator of the innovative initiative, gave the outline of the initiative being launched with the help and support of Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada and urged the stakeholders to cooperate with the volunteers of the VMS in implementing the programme in the district.
Dr B A War the coordinator of the initiative speaking on the occasion gave an overview of the incidence of mental health problems in the district and appealed for larger public participation.
Sarmad Hafiz, District Dev Commissioner, Ganderbal, who presided over the function, urged the society to address issues like corruption, redtapism and insensitivity of public servants to people’s woes and day today problems which only accentuate mental health problems in the society.
Follow our WhatsApp channel