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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | To stop suicides, Maharashtra to map farmers’ mind -Clara Lewis & Malathy Iyer

To stop suicides, Maharashtra to map farmers’ mind -Clara Lewis & Malathy Iyer

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published Published on Sep 6, 2015   modified Modified on Sep 6, 2015
-The Times of India

MUMBAI: Fifteen years since farmers in the state's Marathwada and Vidarbha regions started taking their own lives, the state on Friday announced the first psycho-social health plan to check the epidemic of suicides.

The plan hinges on community health workers — the accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and anganwadi workers — carrying out a questionnaire-based screening test to assess the mental health of farmers.

"We carried out an audit of the suicides committed in the first six months of 2015 and found that there is a small window period in which most farmers who killed themselves were in an indecisive phase on whether to take the step or not. We want to identify this phase in a farmer's life and intervene effectively," said state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant.

A pilot project has been operational in Yavatmal and Osmanabad districts for the past couple of months. Yavatmal has been identified as one of the worst-affected districts, with over 3,500 farmer suicides since 2001.

"The programme will roll out in 12 more districts in October," said Dr Sawant, who is also the guardian minister of Osmanabad district.

The state's mental health bailout plan has three aspects: induct more pyschiatrists or psychologists in the suicide-prone zones, train community health workers and hire counsellors on contract basis.

The government resolution (GR) to the effect states: "Taking into consideration the suicides by farmers on account of natural calamities over the last two to three years, a special programme has been adopted to expand the psychiatry and psychology departments in nine district hospitals and five sub-district hospitals."

The district hospitals are located in Amravati, Beed, Buldhana, Hingoli, Parbhani, Jalna, Osmanabad, Wardha and Washim, while the sub-district are in Akola, Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur and Yavatmal.

Vidarbha has witnessed a spurt in suicides in the last 18 months. While 721 farmers committed suicide in 2014, 446 did so in the first six months of 2015.

The GR follows a cabinet decision in July to announce a mental health intervention plan of the government.

The overall expenses have been pegged at Rs 23.82 crore, added the GR.

Of this, Rs 7.66 crore will be taken from the contingency fund, and the bulk of it will be spent as compensation to the ASHA workers.

The announcement was met with mixed reactions.

Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty lauded the move, calling it an "excellent" decision.

"We don't need highly qualified mental health professionals for community mental health work," said Shetty. "Malaria prevention can be done by health workers and does not need an MD physician. It is best to have a chain of mental health professionals, including hundreds of emotional aid workers."

Dr Prashant Chakkarwar, a psychiatrist from Yavatmal medical college, said that the population in Yavatmal was 27 lakh and that it had only five psychiatrists.

"There is no way that all the population can be covered by doctors," said Chakkarwar. "Hence, trained ASHAs have been enlisted."

But Chakkarwar also has certain reservations about the programme.

"Mental health interventions cannot work alone without some social and economic solutions," the doctor said. "We need a farming authority who will address all the issues related to farmers — from mental health, to addiction to irrigation."

The Times of India, 6 September, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/To-stop-suicides-Maharashtra-to-map-farmers-mind/articleshow/48840706.cms


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