After roadblocks, District Mental Health Boards to be formed by Aug

As the mental health review boards await for the approval of the State Health Department, official sources said that DMHBs would be formed in two months.

The 13 district mental health review boards were proposed to keep a track of admissions and case records in the hospitals. The district mental health review boards were made mandatory under the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 and 13 boards were announced by the State Health Department last year.

Tamil Nadu Health Department announced the formation of DMHB to ensure fair treatment of persons with mental illnesses and to ensure punishment for those who deny treatment to mentally ill patients.

The review board members of each DMHB are responsible for reviewing the case reports of a person with mental illness and also assess the personal problems such as monetary issues, property related disputes and other personal issues of the person.

“The appointment of a retired District Judge as the chairperson of the Board remains pending as the salaries of the chairperson have not been decided yet. The senior officials of the State Health Department headed by the State Health Secretary are to decide on the same,” said Dr Poorna Chandrika, Deputy Director, Institute of Mental Health.

As per the regulations, the review board should comprise of a retired District Judge as the chairperson of the Board, a representative of the District Collector of the respective district, psychiatrist and a medical practitioner. Two other people associated with non-governmental organisations or other organisation representing persons with mental illnesses were also to be included as the board members.

When contacted, director of medical services Dr Mohanan said that the orders to form the DMHB have been issued.

“We are planning to conduct a state-level meeting on the formation of the DMHBs. The process is almost finalized and DMHB is expected to be formed after discussions with the district Collectors within two months,” he said.