The Federal National Council adopted a set of recommendations put forward by the Council’s Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on the issue of the Ministry of Health and Community Protection’s policy on promoting mental health in the UAE, including integrating mental health into all strategies of education and services, including the specialty of psychiatry in the curricula of medical colleges, and adjusting salaries and privileges. The employment of workers in the field and the inclusion of mental health services and basic medicines needed for psychological treatment in the health insurance system. Deliberations also indicated that the draft federal law on mental health approved by the Council last year is expected to be issued soon.
This came during the Health and Environmental Affairs Committee’s presentation of its report during the ninth session of the third regular session of the 17th legislative term of the Federal National Council, which was held yesterday at the Council’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, where it reviewed about 16 challenges and put forward 13 recommendations to promote mental health in the country, and the Council decided to return the recommendations to the Committee To be formulated according to the members’ discussions.
A form for assessing the student’s psychological state
The Minister of Health and Community Protection, Abdul Rahman Al Owais, revealed that about 553 workers were trained as social workers in schools in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for early detection of any defect related to the issue of mental health.
He confirmed coordination with the Ministry of Health to set special Emirati standards for the circulation of electronic cigarettes and work at the Gulf level to adopt standard specifications in this regard, stressing that the country has exceeded the national indicator to reduce the smoking rate for the year 2021, as the percentage reached 15.6%.
Support for mental health patients
Al Owais pointed to activating the creation of beds in public hospitals, to remove mental health patients from psychiatric hospitals within the institution’s strategy to ensure comprehensive coverage and benefit the largest number of customers, pointing to the existence of extensive studies in universities on mental health, and the government established a research committee to unify efforts and allocate its own budgets.
He added that the helpline provided by the ministry under the name “Speak to Hear You” benefited nearly 5,000 people in 2021.
The Minister of Health confirmed that implementation is underway to provide specialized psychiatric centers in Kalba and Khor Fakkan with the same mechanism in other places.
In turn, the Director General of the Emirates Foundation for Health Services, Dr. Yousef Mohammed Al Serkal, touched on the creation of an integrated unit for psychological and community services at Al-Amal Hospital for Mental Health, and work is underway to enhance mental and community health services in hospitals, reduce the number of admissions for patients attending clinics and reduce the rate of relapse.
Al Serkal clarified that the total number of medical cadres specialized in the field of mental health in the institution reached 371 people, as human cadres were supplied between 2019-2021, with an increase of 47%.
Specialized treatment centers for diabetes
Al Owais confirmed that work is underway to facilitate the participation of the private sector to enter into initiatives to cover the existence of specialized treatment centers after the issuance of the health insurance law, in response to a parliamentary request to establish a specialized medical center that includes all specialties in Ras Al Khaimah as it is a central area serving the various Emirates, including Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Fujairah. and adjacent areas.
In response to a question posed by Council member Youssef Al-Batran, Al-Sarkal explained that the state managed to reduce the registered percentage of people with diabetes in 2010 from 18.9% to 11.8% in 2018.
He pointed out that about 500 programs and awareness campaigns have been implemented during the past three years, the integration of diabetes services in 70 primary health care centers in the various emirates of the country, the provision of specialized services, including the treatment of diabetic foot, the digital camera for examining the fundus of the eye and linking it with specialized hospitals, and the launch of the “Confidence” initiative in the centers Primary health care for early detection and provision of preventive and curative services.
Providing insulin pumps
Abdul Rahman Al Owais confirmed that insulin pumps are available to all citizens and are located in the prepared center of the Emirates Foundation for Health Services at Al Qassimi Hospital for Women and Obstetrics, explaining that the devices need follow-up in installation, and that the institution is the first to provide the artificial pancreas, and it is a device that is ahead of the regular pump.
This came in response to a question by Hind bin Humaid bin Hindi Al Aleeli, a member of the Federal National Council, about the challenges that prevent the provision of insulin pumps in all facilities affiliated with the Ministry of Health in the country.
Al Serkal explained that the Foundation is proactive in dispensing the first and latest insulin pump in the UAE at Al Qassimi Hospital for Women and Children in June 2021, which relies on the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence to improve blood sugar levels in patients.
Ongoing initiatives to reduce drug prices
The Minister of Health confirmed that the state has implemented several initiatives to reduce drug prices over the past 11 years, pointing out that drug pricing varies from one country to another, and from one company to another, according to the cost of living and renting places.
He pointed out that the products or medicines that are sold directly in the shelves of pharmacies and shopping centers without a prescription, the pricing mechanism does not apply to them due to the different places of sale, and follow other competent authorities, and are not among the medicines that have therapeutic properties and are followed up by the Ministry, stressing the importance of using the Ministry’s website In searching for prices and submitting complaints, to take appropriate action against them.
This came in response to a question raised by National Council member Muhammad Issa Al-Dhaf about the reason for the increase in the prices of some medicines and the supervisory role of the ministry to control the price hike.