[Budget] Mental health requires government investment

01 perspective

Written by: Comment Editor

2020-02-28 10:00

Experiencing the impact of anti-revision cases and the impact of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, Hong Kong people ’s mental health problems are getting worse. However, the Financial Secretary, Chen Maobo, left only one sentence in the budget. And the Education Bureau to provide sufficient resources to provide appropriate support for the mentally distressed. "

Hong Kong is a high-stress society. The 2018 Hong Kong Mental Health Index survey showed that citizens with unqualified mental health nearly doubled year-on-year, up to 47.9%. The recent social events have only made matters worse. A study by the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine found that up to 22% of the citizens have suspected depression and trauma sequelae, and the proportion of police and middle school students may be higher.

Therefore, the budget should have a special fund dedicated to emotional support services, or related activities and surveys, or lectures, etc. At the same time, conventional mental health support services should not be ignored. Examples include reserving the resources needed for general public mental health education and setting up a district-based one-stop mental health support service.

Social movements that have lasted more than half a year have caused some citizens to be emotionally troubled. (Profile picture / Photo by Yu Junliang)

Increase in public psychiatric services

Regarding psychiatric services, Chen Maobo's budget was never mentioned. At present, psychiatric services in Hong Kong are in short supply. The New Territories East Hospital, which has the longest waiting time for psychiatric outpatient clinics in the public hospital, has to wait more than two years (134 weeks), and the shortest Island East Hospital has to wait almost one year (44 week). This is due to the extreme shortage of manpower. The World Health Organization recommends that there should be one psychiatrist per 10,000 population. However, Hong Kong currently has one psychiatrist per 25,000 to 30,000 people. For a psychiatric disease that is detected and treated better as soon as possible, such a long waiting time is tantamount to putting the mental health of the entire society into a vicious circle. The more backlogs there are, the more serious each case becomes. Therefore, the government should make specific estimates on the number of mental patients and the need for medical staff, increase the training and introduction of professionals, and help patients in a more timely manner.

Subsidized psychiatric health insurance

In addition, in Hong Kong, the popularity of seeking medical treatment for mental illness is not widespread. One is because of misunderstanding of psychiatry, the other is because the public hospital is difficult to arrange, and the private psychiatric department is expensive. Wait. If the government can cooperate with insurance companies to improve psychiatric insurance, the second level of concerns can be resolved.

Based on the market's profit-seeking instinct, many insurance programs either do not include such diseases or issue more stringent policy terms. Government financial planning may consider cooperating with insurance companies, for example, in the form of subsidies, etc., to introduce insurance packages with more friendly terms. For example, the government can take the lead in improving voluntary medical insurance and expand the voluntary medical insurance plan launched on April 1, 2019 to include psychiatric inpatient treatment with an annual protection of 30,000 yuan, to expand to a wider range of daily consultation and psychological counseling services. When similar psychiatric medical insurance is available, citizens will naturally be able to ask for "emotional colds" in a timely manner as much as they can afford ordinary cold treatment.

The new pneumonia is raging, people's hearts are trembling, and the mental state of citizens is worthy of attention. (Photo by Li Zetong)

Helping people with mental illness find employment

At the same time, the government's financial planning can also consider subsidizing employers to help people with mental illness return to society. Between 2011 and 2016, 20% of the discrimination received by the Equal Opportunity Disability were cases of mental illness. Of these complaints, 66% belong to the category of employment, which involves not being recruited, unemployed, and unfair treatment. This affects not only the lives of patients and rehabilitation people, but also the development of society. Between 2015 and 2018, the Government's Employment Aptitude Program for the employment of people with disabilities helps about 800 people return to the workplace each year. Therefore, the government should consider implementing a similar program for ex-mentally ill people.

The mental health of citizens is not only about the quality of life, but also about the harmony and stability of society. The Hong Kong government has always paid insufficient attention to this. The mental health problems of the public have a long backlog. Coupled with the social emotional distress and epidemic caused by anti-revision storms, government planning can no longer be unclear.

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01 depth

2020 Budget Chen Maobo Mental Health 01 Viewpoint