Around 2.25 crore people over 18 years are suffering from mental disorders while there is only one psychiatrist for every 1.40 lakh people in the country.
Worse still, there are only 900 beds in government hospitals for the patients with mental illness.
The statistics paint a gloomy picture of the country's mental health care, as the World Mental Health Day is being observed across the globe today with the theme 'Mental health in a changing world: The impact of culture and diversity'.
There are only 10 or 15 beds for mental patients in the government medical colleges while most private medical colleges do not have any beds for such patients. The Pabna mental hospital has 500 beds while the National Institute of Mental Health has 150 beds.
" But many poor patients cannot afford the treatment at the institute. as only 40 percent of beds in the institute are non-paying ones," Director of National Mental Health Institute Dr AH Mohammad Firoz said, adding that 60 percent of beds
in the med cal colleges are free.
Even the medical colleges, except ont or two, do not have any posts for professors of mental health. As a result, tile patients remain d iprived of specialised treatment
Also, in the absence of a mental health pol cy, the patients cannot enjoy legal rights. But the neighbouring c iiintries such as India, Pakistan. I (epal and Bhutan have such a policy.
"The Li nacy Act of 1912 is still valid in thi1 country, but it needs to be updatet. A draft proposal in this regard was prepared by the National Institute cf Mental Health a few years ago, mt it is gathering dust," said psych atrist Dr Mollit Kamal.
Most c nintries have national mental he ilth programmes. Some of them ; lave integrated mental health with the general health delivery system, while some have separate'mental health programn es. Some countries even have a sef arate budget for mental health can .according to experts.
Bangla lesh spends only 0.5 percent oi the total health budget on mental health, according to the WorldAtla 12005.
A survey conducted by National Institute of Mental Health in association with World Health Organisation (WHO) from 2004 to 2006 found that 5.67 percent of mental patients are suffering from acute and complex mental disorders and 4.61 percent of the patients with complex mental disorders are suffering from depression.
Referring a study conducted in 2003, psychiatrist Dr Mohammad /Mi of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said around 65.4 percent of people who intended to commit suicide were sufferingffom psychiatric disorders.
The total number of mentally ill people in South Asia is 150 to 200 million, according to the experts.
The United Nations secretary general in 2001 asked all the governments to make mental health a priority, to allocate resources, develop policies and implement reforms needed to address this urgent problem. Similarly, the WHO director general called on the member states to address the same issues. However, significant changes are yet to take place in this area.
A new research published in the medical journal, The Lancet, has highlighted the extent to which the mentally ill are neglected in the developing world. Scientists say mental illness makes up about 14 percent of global disease, more than cancer or heart disease. Up to 800,000 people commit suicide each year, mostly in poorer countries.
Despite this, the authors say, 90 percent of sufferers in developing countries receive no care. In some cases they are chained to trees or kept in cages.
Health officials called for new strategies and more funds for treatment of the mentally ill in the developing world in a special series published by The Lancet.
They warned that as more people suffer from mental problems as a result of war, poverty and disease, unless widespread treatment becomes available, poor countries would be further handicapped in the future.
In some countries, mental illness is seen asastigma. But many experts say basic mental health services can be provided cheaply and simply, especially if they are made a part of general healthcare.