Mental health services have to be improved for the healthy development of children. (Photo: VNA)problems are widespread and increasing in Vietnam, particularly among
children and young people.
Despite some progress, mental health services in Viet
Nam remain largely inadequate, according to a new study released on
February 6 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Ministry of
Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the Overseas Development
Institute (ODI).
The lack of mental health services is particularly acute in remote
province. There, services are insufficient to prevent suicide and treat mental
health disorders, which are often at the heart of suicidal ideation and
attempts, according to the study of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing among
children and young people in selected provinces and cities in Vietnam.
Friday Nwaigwe, chief of
the of UNICEF Vietnam, said, “Children
with mental disorders face major challenges with stigma, isolation and
discrimination, as well as lack of access to health care and education
facilities, in violation of their fundamental human rights.”
While some
and psychosocial services are provided through social welfare and social
protection centres, mental health hospitals and psychosocial units in schools,
their quality and coverage is limited, and often focused on severe mental
health disorders.
In her opening remarks at
the workshop, Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Hong
Lan emphasised that the findings of the study provide evidence to inform line
sectors and provinces in development and implementation of comprehensive
service systems to respond to the needs of mental health and psychosocial
support for children and young people in Vietnam.
The report recommends the
Vietnamese government strengthen and increase the quantity and quality of human
resources for mental health in the public sector, as well as the number and
type of services, particularly those focusing on less severe mental health
problems.
The study also emphasises
the importance of raising awareness of the need to address children and young
people’s psychosocial wellbeing.
The study highlights the importance of a supportive family
environment, good social and peer networks, supportive teachers and role models
as protective factors.
Experts at the workshop
believed that findings from this study would inform recommendations on how to
address children and young people’s mental health. They also argued that the recommendations
should be considered by existing national level programmes, including the
National Programme on Social Support and Rehabilitation for People with Mental
Illness and the National Targeted Programme on Health, as well as future
programming and legal frameworks in the planning stages, including the National
Strategy on Mental Health, 2016-2025, with a view to 2030.
According to WHO, mental
disorders are defined as a combination of abnormal thoughts, perceptions,
emotions, behaviour and relationships with others, whereas biologically based
disorders can include depression, bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia and
other psychoses, dementia, intellectual disabilities and developmental
disorders including autism.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
