Government Initiatives and Progress in Mental Health Care: A Priority for Comprehensive Well-being

2023-09-06 17:39:02

Mental health is a priority in the public policies of this government; Proof of this are advances such as the training of health personnel and attention to this issue from the first level, that is, in clinics and health centers, highlighted the secretary of the General Health Council (CSG), Marcos Cantero Cortés.

When participating in the National Meeting on Mental Health and Addictions, he pointed out that historically care in this area was not on the public agenda, which caused insufficient services to respond to the needs of the population.

In the meeting that had the motto: “Make mental health a priority for comprehensive well-being”, Cantero Cortés mentioned that there were not enough trained personnel to address and care for mental disorders and first contact medicine did not consider these conditions .

“We are aware that the road ahead is long; We are starting, mental health was forgotten, we have only been there for five years, there is still a lot to be done to achieve decent and sufficient mental health and addiction care services in our country.”

Mental health care should not be given from the desk or the office, but in the territory, “let us continue working in a coordinated, supportive and intersectoral manner to ensure that all Mexicans can access quality and warm services, where comprehensive health is a reality.”

He pointed out that every day the Health sector works in a coordinated manner to strengthen actions for constant improvement of the infrastructure of psychiatric care and addictions, prevention and treatment services; as well as in the implementation of improvement strategies with the training of medical, nursing and social work personnel as an integral team.

He added that the Primary Addiction Care Centers became Community Mental Health and Addiction Centers, which provide free services and treatment according to the level of risk and severity.

He recalled that, by instructions of the head of the Ministry of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela, the reform of the General Health Law was promoted, where it was established that mental health and the prevention of addictions are a priority, for which the State must guarantee universal and equitable access.

On May 29 of this year, the National Mental Health and Addictions Commission (Conasama) was created by decree, with the aim of integrating a community model focused on primary health care and respect for human rights, as one of the actions restructuring in the matter.

At the ceremony, the head of CONASAMA, Juan Manuel Quijada Gaytán, highlighted that CONASAMA is made up of more than 3,400 workers who provide care services, mental health promotion, and prevention of psychoactive substance use. “Our goal is that when someone has a mental disorder, they have the opportunity to be treated from the first level.”

He mentioned that, during this meeting, mental health and addiction professionals will exchange experiences about the services they offer to users and their families, to whom they “provide words of encouragement or give a cuddle, the best medicine to soothe the soul ”.

At this meeting, he recognized the combined efforts of experts in mental health and addictions from the Ministry of Health, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (Issste), the National for the Integral Development of the Family (SNDIF), as well as civil society, with the rectory of CONASAMA.

When inaugurating this meeting, the governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado Pineda, said that good mental health dignifies a society that had been forgotten for a long time.

He added that the attention to this issue in the entity is a priority because it generates well-being, development and contributes to the construction of social peace and happiness of the people.

“Good mental health in girls, boys and young people also means a more peaceful, united society, with greater development that in the long term will allow consolidating the conditions of well-being and justice in educational establishments, health centers, work spaces, public transport, from all the trenches and at all times.”

He pointed out that mental health care for the people of Guerrero is essential because it is a human right, leaving no one outside and no one behind.

The general director of the Mexican Institute of Youth (Imjuve), Guillermo Rafael Santiago Rodríguez, considered it a necessity to address the mental health problems of adolescents and young people, as they are the sectors where more influence can be made in terms of timely detection and prevention.

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