KARACHI, Feb 12: Experts at a meeting here on Sunday identified lacunae in the Mental Health Ordinance 2001 and proposed 20 amendments to remove them and make the law more effective so that it could serve the purpose it was promulgated for.

The meeting, organized jointly by the Pakistan Association for Mental Health and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was chaired by Dr S. Haroon Ahmed. Among the participants were Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (r) Dr Ghaus Mohammad, Hussain Naqi, Syed Shamsuddin, Iqbal Haider, Faisal Siddiqui, Taufiq Ahmad, Dr Salamat Kamal, Rochi Ram, Dr Rubina Kidwai, Dr Syed Ali Wasif, Dr Naim Siddiqui, Javed Siddiqui, Zubeida Mustafa, Syed Tariq Ali and Dr Anita Afzal.

The experts recalled that it was in February 2001 that the Lunacy Act-1912 was repealed and the Mental Health Ordinance was introduced.

They noted that the MHO-2001 had not been implemented effectively and no rules or regulations had been formulated as yet. Even the ordinance had not been notified in a manner that majority of the doctors and lawyers could know about its existence.

The meeting observed that the introduction of the MHO-2001 was eventful because it rendered the Lunacy Act 1912 redundant and there appeared to be no law in practice to protect or facilitate the treatment of the mentally ill. “At present also, no laws or regulations exist to enforce the ordinance. Nor is there any secretariat or separate office for the federal mental health authority and nor is there a known source of funding for the authority.”

Some of the amendments to the MHO-2001 proposed by the experts are as follows:

The term ‘detention’ be replaced with ‘involuntary admission (IA)’, and the duration of IA for psychiatric assessment be reduced to 14 days from 28; the duration of IA for psychiatric treatment should be one month, rather than six months, subject to re-evaluation and extension in the period; relatives of the individual having being involuntarily admitted be informed within 72 hours rather than ‘reasonable time’; only an approved psychiatrist or a psychiatrist who has previously treated the patient be authorized to recommend the IA; the inquiry to ascertain a person’s mental state be carried out by a psychiatrist rather than ‘any person’; the penalty for mistreating a patient should apply not only to the employees of a facility but to all those working there, whether employed or working in a voluntary capacity.