Indian Union Budget 2022: A National Tele Mental Health programme to be launched

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled the budget for fiscal 2022-23, which aims to boost growth amid continued disruption from COVID-19 and rising inflation.

While announcing the budget, the Indian FM talked about how the pandemic has affected the mental health of people and the steps being taken by the government to deal with this major side-effect of the pandemic. 

She said that “the pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a National Tele Mental Health program will be launched.”

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Further explaining the program, she explained that 23 nodal centres for telemedical mental health will be operated, with NIMHANS serving as the nodal centre. The International Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru (IIIT) will provide technical support, she added. 

Worldwide, mental health problems have been reported as a result of this global humanitarian crisis.

Several factors have contributed to a steep rise in depression and anxiety, including restrictions on social contact, lockdowns, economic insecurity, and school and business closures.

According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal in October, major depressive and anxiety disorders are increasing substantially, especially among women and youth.

In India, the prevalence of such disorders has increased by about 35%, according to the study. 

In 2020, researchers estimate an additional 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorders and 53.2 million cases of major depression due to the pandemic. Accordingly, the disorders grew by 25.6% and 27.6%, respectively.