ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: The government has established the Federal Mental Health Authority, comprising 14 members from all over the country, in pursuance of Mental Health Ordinance 2001, sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

Federal Health Minister Dr Abdul Malik Kasi is the chairperson of the Authority, which will start functioning from February 20, 2001.

Other members of the Authority are the health secretary, Ejaz Rahim, the director-general health, the secretaries of health departments of all the four provinces, the adviser (psychiatry), medical directorate, General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi, Prof Saad Bashir Malik, Prof Mussarat Hussain, Prof Abdul Malik Achakzai, Prof Malik H Mubashar, Prof Brig (Rtd) Fazal Haq, Prof Mohammad Shafique and Associate Prof Dr Khalid Saeed.

Different quarters have been asking the government to include mental health in the primary healthcare, if the government wanted to achieve the goal of “health for all.” Different bodies in the past had also raised serious concern as there existed no reliable scientific data on mental illness in Pakistan.

In the absence of a central surveillance and data collection system, psychiatrists had to rely on global data, the sources said.

One of such organizations, called The Network, had even urged the government to stop the availability of psycho-active drugs used in psychiatric treatment by categorizing them as “prescription only.” Easy availability of mind-altering drugs was making users drug dependent that could made them suffer serious side-effects, they added.—Staff Reporter