Dominican Republic, 03 November 2016 (PAHO/WHO) - In the context of the new mental health care approach, with a focus on users' rehabilitation and reintegration, improving their life quality and integrating their families and the community, World Mental Health Day was celebrated with the launch of the "I am like you, but you do not know" campaign, to raise awareness about the importance of understanding and accepting mental health problems that occur in the family context, and to reduce stigma and discrimination in the general population.
Among the main problems that impact people's mental health in the Dominican Republic, are addictions to alcohol and drugs, domestic and gender violence, depression, suicide, work stress and dementia. In response to this situation, the Mental Health Department of the Ministry of Health, expanded mental health care coverage and access to medicines, integrating it into the service network in its three levels of care, with an emphasis on first level centers, ensuring access and linking the community to mental health promotion and prevention actions.
New Crisis Intervention Units will be opened shortly, with programmatic actions and training of human resources for addressing some these health problems, such as the inclusion of drug users and dual pathology patients in care services. The Minister of Health and her team put all their efforts into making mental health a priority for the development and healthy growth of the population.
