Non-communicable Diseases

Mental Health

Mental health care

     Providing at least minimum services for mental disorders to the community, in the community, using existing health care delivery system.

     Providing translated psychosis identifying questionnaires (PIQ).

     Providing training to basic health staff (BHS) and other health care providers to elicit psychoses.

     Epilepsy

     Providing training to health care providers for identification of major fits.

     Providing training to qualified medical practitioners for management of epilepsy according to relevant WHO SEARO training manuals.

     Undertaking a stigma removal campaign by using audiovisuals, and giving group-wise health education talks in rural health centres.

Publications

The World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) was used to collect information on the mental health system in Myanmar. This will enable Myanmar to develop information-based mental health plans with clear base-line information and targets.

Myanmar has a mental health policy which is incorporated with the general health policy document.  Mental health expenditure is 0.3% of total health care expenditures.

There are 25 outpatient mental health facilities, 2 day treatment facilities, 17 community-based psychiatric inpatients units and 2 mental hospitals.  Schizophrenia and neurotic disorders are the most frequent diagnoses in out-patient facilities, and schizophrenia and mood disorders are the most common diagnoses in mental hospitals.

Primary health care doctors are allowed to prescribe psychotropic medications without restrictions.  There are 89 psychiatrists (0.016 per 100,000 population), four psychologists (0.01 per 100,000 population), 23 social workers (0.04 per 100,000 population) and one occupational therapist (0.002 per 100,000 population).

There have been public education and awareness campaigns targeting professional groups including health care providers (including traditional medicinal medicine, conventional, and modern practitioners).

The Department of Health Planning monitors data collected from the whole country. This data includes data on mental health, which is analyzed and published yearly.

     Full document [pdf]