Govt launches pilot project to expand community mental health services
The government has launched a community-based mental health project to bring services to people at the grassroots level, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare M A Muhit said on Tuesday.
The initiative will initially cover around 20 upazilas, with plans to expand it to all 500 upazilas across the country within one to one-and-a-half years, he said.
“We want to implement the project over the next one to one-and-a-half years as a pilot initiative.
We want to roll it out across all 500 upazilas across the country,” Muhit said. He made the remarks while addressing a seminar on mental health at the Bangla Academy in Dhaka. Aachol Foundation, Human Rights Development Centre (HRDC), Local Education and Economic Development Organization (LEEDO) and Polli Ekota Unnayan Sangstha jointly organised the event.
Muhit said allocations had been made in this year’s national budget to operationalise community mental health services.
He noted that government mental health services had long been concentrated in specialised tertiary-level institutions, including the National Institute of Mental Health in Dhaka and a specialised hospital in Pabna.
To address the shortage of trained personnel at the grassroots level, the state minister proposed introducing two- to three-year vocational diploma courses in mental health, similar to diploma engineering programmes.
He said the government would work with the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) and universities to develop a community-oriented workforce, including mental health workers and psychosocial support staff, to serve rural communities.
The minister also highlighted the psychological trauma associated with 15 years of authoritarian rule and the July mass uprising.
He said many young people had witnessed violence, deaths and serious injuries during the uprising, while an earlier generation had experienced oppressive practices in university dormitories, including so-called “gono-rooms”.
Muhit warned that without structured psychosocial support and counselling, unresolved trauma could have long-term consequences.
He stressed that future political leaders, teachers and physicians would emerge from the affected generation and needed appropriate support to prevent trauma from shaping harmful behaviour.
The state minister also identified social stigma as a major barrier to mental well-being and inclusion, calling for changes in public attitudes towards mental health.
