National Nutrition Council MIMAROPA supports the observance of the National Mental Health Week this second week of October by the virtue of Proclamation No. 452.

Mental health is equally important to physical health to achieve overall health and wellness. This includes the emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting how people think, feel, and behave.

In the Philippines, mental illness is the third most common disability with an estimated 6 million Filipinos living with depression and/or anxiety. Even with the availability of mental health services, there is a low help-seeking behavior among Filipinos primarily due to the stigma that mental health connotes, added to it the financial constraints and inaccessibility of services.

With the passage of Republic Act 11036 or the Mental Health Act, it commits in promoting the well-being of people by ensuring that the mental health is valued, promoted and protected. The persons affected by mental health conditions can exercise the full range of human rights and participate fully in society and at work free from stigmatization and discrimination.

The law provides a rights-based mental health bill and a comprehensive framework for the implementation of optimal mental healthcare in the Philippines. It enhances and integrates mental health service delivery to Universal Health Care through promotion and protection of the rights of persons using psychosocial health services and increasing investments in mental health.

The National Mental Health Program (NMHP) of the Department of Health would ensure the implementation of the law through the National Mental Health Strategic Plan (2019-2023). This affirms the basic right of all Filipinos to mental health as well as the fundamental rights of people who require mental health services.

Written by: NO II Bianca Estrella

References:

Filipino help-seeking for mental health problems and associated barriers and facilitators: a systematic review. (2020). Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-020-01937-2

Mental Health. (2021). https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm

Mental health legislation in the Philippines: Philippine Mental Health Act. (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6646847/

Mental Health Program. Retrieved from: https://doh.gov.ph/health-programs/mental-health-program

Proclamation No. 452. Retrieved from: https://www.ncda.gov.ph/disability-laws/proclamations/proclamation-no-452/

Republic Act No. 11036. (2018). https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2018/06jun/20180620-RA-11036-RRD.pdf