Every few months, Fatima Sheikh, a resident of Borivali, has to travel 27 kilometers to Sion Hospital for the routine check-up of her husband Abdulla Ali Sheikh, who suffers from schizophrenia. But travelling in an overcrowded train during rush hour often turns her husband violent. “Once, he even hit a man on the train,” said Fatima. Now, a local NGO—Manotsav – arranges their commute to the hospital.
Only if the Shatabdi Hospital (in neighbouring Kandivali) had psychiatrists, we wouldn’t have to struggle so much,” she added.
On a daily basis, a number of citizens like Fatima struggle due to unavailability of psychiatrists. And while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced to invest Rs 25 crore to establish yoga centres for “the mental well being” of the public, the acute dearth of mental health professionals in 16 peripheral hospitals remains ignored.
As per the data provided by the civic body, in 2020, amid the pandemic, as many as 41,159 patients availed of OPD treatment for mental ailments. Despite a higher population in Mumbai suburbs, data showed that only 10,488 of them went for OPD treatment while the number in Mumbai city was 30,671. Most of the patients have to rely on three tertiary-care hospitals—KEM, Sion and Nair.
Dr Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist with Hinduja Hospital, said, “The sensitisation about mental ailments is still limited in India. People still stigmatise the diseases and avoid getting their loved ones treated. The struggle for the treatment becomes more challenging due to lack of accessibility.”
Shatabdi Hospital, also known as Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (BDBA) Hospital, which caters to the population from Borivali, Kandivali and Malad, has only one sanctioned post for psychiatrist. This post, too, has been lying vacant after a psychiatrist retired last year. Similarly, all posts for psychiatrists in Sant Muktabai (Ghatkopar), Maa (Chembur), KB Bhabha (Kurla) and MT Agarwal (Mulund) hospitals are vacant.
Due to lack of accessibility, the patients often drop out of treatment, which further deteriorates their health. “Considering the growing cases of mental ailments in the city, especially among the youth, the civic body also needs to set up psychiatric wards in these peripheral hospitals like we have in KEM and Sion…This will also help in rehabilitating the patients,” said Dr Avinash De Sousa, consultant psychiatrist and editor-in-chief of the Indian Journal of Mental Health.
In a bid to spread awareness about the importance of physical and mental well being, the BMC, in its latest budget, declared to start 200 public yoga centres called ‘Shiv Yoga Kendra’. But health advocates claim that yoga alone won’t help in the mental well being of the citizens until they have access to treatment.
Many doctors visiting the hospitals on honorary positions are given minimal fees, which often discourage them from working there. There is a need to appoint them on permanent payroll,” said Dr Swati Rane, Founder Vice President, Clinical Nursing Research Society, and Visiting Faculty, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
