INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH TO BECOME AUTONOMOUS SOON
V.K. Subburaj Principal Secretary to Government of Tamilnadu,, Health
was speaking on a national seminar on ‘Perspectives of Mental Illness in India`
organised by The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM). He said
that The Institute of Mental Health in Kilpauk, currently the only tertiary
care mental health institution in the State, would soon become an autonomous
institution, on the lines of the National Institute for Mental Health and Neuro
Sciences,
Mr. Subburaj said. The DMHP had
been implemented in 16 districts so far, and six districts will be added on
later. A DMHP team had been formed in these 16 districts with a full complement
of trained staff to take care of the mental health needs of the local people. The objective of the institute being made
autonomous is to make function more effectively
Telemedicine, she said, was a great leveller, cost effective and resulted
in better utilisation of time. The Centre is now focussing on telemedicine and
setting up projects in various parts of the country. Tele-psychiatry had also
emerged as the most successful telemedicine application. Tamil Nadu has
sufficient IT infrastructure to support telemedicine, Dr. Poongothai said.
