WHO and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine have signed a memorandum on cooperation to strengthen the availability of psychological well being companies within the nation. The goal is to make psychological well being and psychological help extra accessible to folks on the major care degree.

“Coming together today marks a historical moment, because there is a commitment to strengthen the provision of mental health services in Ukraine through primary health care,” mentioned Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine, who signed the memorandum along with the Minister of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko.

“WHO’s mhGAP has been working in Ukraine since 2019, but after the Russian Federation’s invasion of the country on 24 February, the needs have increased dramatically, and we need to scale up training and services rapidly. I thank the Ministry of Health and the Office of the First Lady for prioritizing mental health, because now, more than 10 million people are in need of mental health assistance in the country. And I thank all the partners, because together we can do more,” Dr Habicht added.

The Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) is a WHO world programme that was launched in 2008 to enhance entry to psychological well being companies via the involvement in service provision of non-specialist well being professionals, corresponding to household docs and nurses. The programme is now carried out in additional than 100 nations all over the world, and its supplies have been translated into greater than 20 languages, together with Ukrainian. 

Through the programme, non-specialist personnel are skilled on tips on how to assist folks with frequent psychological problems together with despair, anxiousness, post-traumatic stress dysfunction and suicidal behaviour. As of July 2022, 655 well being personnel have accomplished the coaching in Ukraine together with household docs, paediatricians, therapists, paramedics and nurses.

“Last week, the government added a new package ‘Support and treatment of adults and children with mental disorders at the primary level of medical care’ to the medical guarantee programme. This package will increase the capitation rate for family doctors who have the appropriate training, allowing them to carry out early diagnosis and provide basic psychological care to anyone who needs it,” mentioned Minister Liashko.

“First Lady Olena Zelenska’s initiative to create the National Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programme is aimed at ensuring that mental health services are of a high quality and accessible to everyone. The signing of the memorandum and the processes it launches are important in two aspects. The first is the possibility for a person to get help where he or she lives, in a convenient place, in an understandable environment. The second is the issue of transforming the approach of health-care workers, to advance a holistic view of physical and mental health,” defined Anna Luschai, Head of Accessibility and Mental Health on the Office of the First Lady of Ukraine.

In addition to face-to-face trainings, companions are finishing the event of an internet self-study course on the administration of psychological problems in major care establishments in Ukraine. The course relies on mhGAP coaching supplies, and the launch of the primary modules will happen in November.

Among the companions who confirmed their dedication to cooperation on the implementation of the mhGAP coaching programme in Ukraine are: the Ministry of Health; the Office of the First Lady of Ukraine; WHO; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the International Medical Corps; Medicos del Mundo; the Mental Health for Ukraine undertaking; Project HOPE; the undertaking “Development of a sustainable public health system in Ukraine”; the Academy of Family Medicine of Ukraine; the nongovernmental group “Proliska”; and the Ukrainian Public Health Foundation.