By Meanne Corvera
Eagle News Service
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill providing basic mental health services in the grassroots level.
It was Senator Risa Hontiveros, an opposition senator, who pushed for the passage of Republic Act 11036, or the Philippine Mental Health Law, that will essentially integrate mental healthcare in the country’s public healthcare system.
“The Mental Health Law cements the government’s commitment to a more holistic approach to healthcare: without sound mental health there can be no genuine physical health,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“No longer shall Filipinos suffer silently in the dark. The people’s mental health issues will now cease to be seen as an invisible sickness spoken only in whispers. Finally, help is here,” she added.
Apart from allowing for the provision of mental health services down to the barangays, Hontiveros said the law “will secure the rights and welfare of persons with mental health needs, mental health professionals… integrate psychiatric, psychosocial, and neurologic services in regional, provincial, and tertiary hospitals, improve our mental healthcare facilities and promote mental health education in our schools and workplaces. ”
Senator Sonny Angara said under the new law, patients with mental disorder may also be given a complete insurance package in public hospitals.
Prior to the passage of the law, Angara said PhilHealth only allots a maximum of P7800 for such.
“This law gives people with mental health problems and their families the opportunity to hope for better lives,” Angara said.
