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Toll free helpline number will start soon in every language for mental problem counseling!

New Delhi, October 2 (Agency)National tele-mental health program and toll free helpline number is going to be launched in the country soon. The National Tele-Mental Health Program (NTMHP) was announced by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23. He had said, ‘Due to the pandemic, mental health problems have increased among people of all age groups. A ‘National Mental Health Programme’ will be launched to provide quality mental health counseling and care facilities.

Under the programme, at least one Tele-Manas (Tele Mental Health Support and National Action Plan) cell will be set up in each state and union territory and five regional coordinating centres, official sources said. He informed that a toll free helpline number will be started for the entire country, in which the caller will be able to get this service in his own language. According to the report published by the Lancet in October last year, the number of people suffering from depression in the country increased due to the Covid-Pandemic in the year 2020 and this figure is estimated to be around 35 percent in India. According to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau, there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of suicides in the year 2020 as compared to the year 2019. In the report published this year, Dr. Rajesh Sagar, Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said that India is heavily burdened with mental health problems. It is estimated that one in seven people have to go for treatment.

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