Back in the late 2000s, Remedios’ (not her real name) sister was already stricken with schizophrenia, but no one expected that, triggered by their father’s death, she would fall sick, too. Read this story by AdrianINQ to know more. INQFocus
Since then, she went back home and lived in Isabela province with her family, including her sister, who was locked inside a room. Years later, her brother became sick, too, leaving their mother the only one taking care of them inside their slowly collapsing house.DETERIORATING. The house where Remedios and her siblings are staying. PHOTO BY KURT DELA PEÑA
This week, the plight of millions of Filipinos with mental health disorder was highlighted as Sen. Raffy Tulfo revealed the dire state of patients at the National Center for Mental Health .While Remedios and her siblings are not confined at the NHMC, Tulfo’s description of the “tragic condition” of the government’s leading mental health institution mirrors the sad state of mental health care in the Philippines.
This, as only 5 percent of the government health care expenditure is directed toward mental health even after the Mental Health Act and Universal Health Care Act were enacted, Nichole Maravilla and Myles Tan stated in an article published by the Frontiers in Psychology.Last Monday Tulfo filed Senate Resolution No. 562, directing the Senate Committee on Health to investigate the “tragic condition” of patients at the NCMH in Mandaluyong City.
Tulfo likewise recalled that he first visited Pavilion 8 or the Female Ward. He said the ward “smelled of patients’ feces and urine, which was made even awful by the smell of garbage dumped outside.” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, Department of Health officer-in-charge, said “we are open to the investigation, and we are trying to improve the situation, and, of course, the convenience of our patients.”But even before Tulfo’s revelation, the state of mental health care in the Philippines has already been at a standstill for decades, with the WHO stressing that mental, neurological and substance use conditions “pose a significant challenge.
“The MOOE is crucial in ensuring that services like teletherapy and the crisis hotlines are conducted under optimal working conditions,” Hontiveros said. From 2020 to 2021, the NCMH’s MOOE increased by only P29,360,000.
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