Our Correspondents
Mithi
A multi-stakeholder partnership between various government agencies and non-government organizations on Saturday joined hands to curb the disturbing trend of increasing suicides in Tharparkar by providing proactive counseling and treatment services to identified patients of Tharparkar.
In this connection, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed here on Saturday between Sindh Mental Health Authority (SMHA), Thar Foundation, Health Department of Govt of Sindh, Sir Cowasjee Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Hyderabad (SCIPBS) and Liaquat University of Medical & Health Licenses (LUMHS).
The partnership is aimed at providing free of cost psychiatric, counselling and treatment services, follow up, free medicines to identified patients under a one-year pilot project. According to the partnership, Thar Foundation will contribute by setting up a remote counselling tele-health services in local language, a mobile App for monitoring and reporting of vulnerable cases and other logistical support to SMHA and other contributing agencies.
The MoU says that SMHA will act as coordinating and lynchpin partner in the achievement of the aims of the project and establish Thar tele health services connecting talukas of Thar with Mithi as hub supported by SCIPBS which will provide technical support, expertise from counselling to evaluation and management of the vulnerable cases, training of counselling and predisposing mental health illness management to service providers an institutional care to the chronic and needy cases.
