PESHAWAR, April 1: Provincial Health Minister Inayatullah Khan has expressed concern over the alarming increase in mental disorders and called for an efficient mechanism to deal with such illnesses and neutralise the threat posed by them.

The minister was speaking at foundation-laying ceremony of a building the psychiatry department at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) here on Thursday.

The minister said that “spiritual bankruptcy, economic disparities and injustice” were creating frustration and leading to mental illness in society.

“The present growth of mental diseases is alarming,” he remarked. “Last year’s devastating earthquake has shown us how important it is to have an efficient network to respond properly to mental disorders.”

Referring to steps planned to improve psychiatry services, he said that construction of psychiatry department had been included in the ADP to deal with mental health.

He also asked the health secretary to find another site for the construction of the Sarhad Psychiatry Hospital and avoid delays in its establishment.

He said that funds had already been allocated for the hospitals.

He also underlined the need for a separate trauma centre to reduce the burden on LRH. Announcing inclusion of a scheme for improvement of medical and allied disciplines in LRH in the next annual development programme (ADP), the minister asked the hospital authorities to chalk out a plan for beautification of the institution.

He said that the health department in collaboration with the GTZ and Institute of Policy Studies had devised an alternate mechanism of financing for the destitute. He also suggested reforms in the state-controlled health care delivery system to meet the demands of the rapidly changing environment.

“We should think how we can make the public health sector efficient so that it can compete with the private sector,” he said.