Manga, Helpline And AI: India Pilots BRICS' Mental Health Support Network, Pg9

Key Highlights:

• India is piloting a new BRICS Network of Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in mental health to enhance accessibility and integrate services into primary healthcare.
• The network aims to mitigate existing treatment gaps across BRICS countries by scaling task-sharing models and digital tele-health platforms.
• NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) in India will serve as the coordinating center for this initiative.
• The collaboration will involve sharing diverse approaches, including educational manga, digital crisis platforms, pictorial screening, VR simulations, and tech-assisted assessments from member nations.
• India faces a significant mental health challenge, with an estimated 197.3 million individuals affected in 2017 and a 70-92% treatment gap.

Detailed Insights:

• The BRICS Network of Centre of Excellence (CoEs) seeks to make mental healthcare more accessible and acceptable, bringing services closer to people, especially in rural and underserved areas.
• The initiative focuses on upskilling frontline and non-specialist health workers to integrate basic mental health support, identification, and referral into routine primary care.
• Member countries will share their unique experiences; for instance, Indonesia has a 24x7 digital platform for suicide prevention, while South Africa uses pictorial screening for community health workers.
• India contributes its expertise in tele-mental-health services, which can be effectively integrated into the existing healthcare system.
• Joint research areas include AI-assisted screening, digital interventions, suicide prevention, biomarkers, and epidemiological mapping of mental health conditions.
• The network will also address common challenges such as data privacy, cybersecurity, ethical deployment of AI, and human-rights-based mental health policies.
• The economic losses due to mental health conditions in India are projected to reach USD 1.03 trillion between 2012 and 2030, underscoring the urgency of such initiatives.
• This effort aligns with India's broader mental health strategies, including the National Mental Health Program and the Tele-MANAS initiative.

Key Concepts Involved:

• BRICS: An acronym for a group of major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
• Tele-mental-health: The delivery of mental healthcare services remotely using telecommunication technologies.
• Task-sharing models: An approach where specific mental health tasks are delegated from specialists to non-specialist health workers.
• Treatment Gap: The disparity between the number of people needing mental health care and those who actually receive it.