WHO Launch Phase 2 of Mental Health Project in Palestine

On October 10, International Mental Health Day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) office in the occupied Palestinian territories launched a three-year $1.5 million project, funded by the European Union, to improve community-based mental health services in the West Bank and Gaza, according to a press release. WHO will provide technical support for the project which the Ministry of Health will implement in 48 health facilities in the West Bank and Gaza, in line with the National Mental Health Strategy, 2012-2014. The project also aims to increase patient access by strengthening Palestinian civil society involvement in service provision and in fighting stigma and discrimination. The WHO and the Health Ministry have worked together over the last decade, most recently in an EU-funded Phase 1 project (2008-2011), to reshape mental health and psychosocial support services from a traditional institutional-based approach to a community-based approach. This EU-funded Phase 2 project builds on this work and emphasizes effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of common and severe mental health disorders, and will be implemented across a continuum of care levels: primary assessment and ongoing care in primary health care clinics, specialized and community care in Community Mental Health Centers, acute care units in general hospitals and promoting rehabilitation services in tertiary care facilities. The current project will focus on strengthening primary mental health care as the first level of mental health service provision. The integration of mental health into primary health care will include 28 primary care facilities. At least 180 doctors and nurses working in these clinics will be trained on mental health, and intervention and referral guidelines will be developed for managing common mental health problems. “The program is about improving services for people with mental health disease and changing attitudes,” summed up Tony Laurance, WHO Head of Office in the occupied territory. “It requires everyone to participate to achieve the goals.” In the West Bank and Gaza, mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, as well as more serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, are underreported, under-resourced and under-treated. The occupation of the West Bank, blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip, violence, poverty and unemployment contribute substantially to the burden of mental health illness in the occupied Palestinian territory, and disproportionately affect the most vulnerable population groups--- women, children and older people--- as well as young adult men. “People with mental illness are stigmatized and badly served by the health sector in the occupied Palestinian territories, as in the region and most of the world. The result is a lot of preventable suffering and a huge burden on families,” Laurance pointed out. No reliable national data exists but WHO estimates that, globally, 25% of the general population can be expected to develop common mental disorders at some point in their lives, and some may develop serious mental illness. Comparing WHO surveys in post-conflict countries and local studies, WHO estimates that 5-10% of the population in the occupied Palestinian territory may currently suffer some form of common mental disorder; less than one in five of those in need currently accesses health care services: about 4,500 individuals a year. Many Palestinians do not seek treatment as a result of neglect, or fear of discrimination or stigma. If treatment is sought and an accurate diagnosis is made, most mental disorders can be treated successfully at community mental health centers and with simple low-cost medications.