WHO and the Ministry of Well being of Ukraine have signed a memorandum on cooperation to strengthen the availability of psychological well being companies within the nation. The goal is to make psychological well being and psychological assist extra accessible to folks on the main care degree.
“Coming collectively right this moment marks a historic second, as a result of there’s a dedication to strengthen the availability of psychological well being companies in Ukraine by main well being care,” mentioned Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Consultant in Ukraine, who signed the memorandum along with the Minister of Well being of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko.
“WHO’s mhGAP has been working in Ukraine since 2019, however after the Russian Federation’s invasion of the nation on 24 February, the wants have elevated dramatically, and we have to scale up coaching and companies quickly. I thank the Ministry of Well being and the Workplace of the First Girl for prioritizing psychological well being, as a result of now, greater than 10 million persons are in want of psychological well being help within the nation. And I thank all of the companions, as a result of collectively we are able to do extra,” Dr Habicht added.
The Psychological Well being Hole Motion Programme (mhGAP) is a WHO international programme that was launched in 2008 to enhance entry to psychological well being companies by the involvement in service provision of non-specialist well being professionals, similar to household medical doctors and nurses. The programme is now carried out in additional than 100 international locations world wide, and its supplies have been translated into greater than 20 languages, together with Ukrainian.
By means of the programme, non-specialist personnel are educated on how one can assist folks with widespread psychological issues together with melancholy, nervousness, post-traumatic stress dysfunction and suicidal behaviour. As of July 2022, 655 well being personnel have accomplished the coaching in Ukraine together with household medical doctors, paediatricians, therapists, paramedics and nurses.
“Final week, the federal government added a brand new bundle ‘Assist and therapy of adults and kids with psychological issues on the main degree of medical care’ to the medical assure programme. This bundle will improve the capitation price for household medical doctors who’ve the suitable coaching, permitting them to hold out early prognosis and supply primary psychological care to anybody who wants it,” mentioned Minister Liashko.
“First Girl Olena Zelenska’s initiative to create the Nationwide Psychological Well being and Psychosocial Assist Programme is geared toward guaranteeing that psychological well being companies are of a top quality and accessible to everybody. The signing of the memorandum and the processes it launches are essential in two elements. The primary is the likelihood for an individual to get assist the place she or he lives, in a handy place, in an comprehensible surroundings. The second is the problem of remodeling the method of health-care staff, to advance a holistic view of bodily and psychological well being,” defined Anna Luschai, Head of Accessibility and Psychological Well being on the Workplace of the First Girl of Ukraine.
Along with face-to-face trainings, companions are finishing the event of an internet self-study course on the administration of psychological issues in main care establishments in Ukraine. The course relies on mhGAP coaching supplies, and the launch of the primary modules will happen in November.
Among the many companions who confirmed their dedication to cooperation on the implementation of the mhGAP coaching programme in Ukraine are: the Ministry of Well being; the Workplace of the First Girl of Ukraine; WHO; the United Nations Kids’s Fund (UNICEF); the Worldwide Medical Corps; Medicos del Mundo; the Psychological Well being for Ukraine mission; Undertaking HOPE; the mission “Improvement of a sustainable public well being system in Ukraine”; the Academy of Household Medication of Ukraine; the nongovernmental group “Proliska”; and the Ukrainian Public Well being Basis.