This is also relative and variable for the same individual from one moment to another, as there is no person who feels happy or sad all the time, it is related to the stages of the individual’s cognitive and physical development and therefore it is relative. Different.
As for mental illness, it is specific cases diagnosed with specific known medical tools and their proportions in any society determined by periodic standardized surveys. Providing basic services for mental health is the basic and obligatory task of the health and medical system, with clear general plans and a licensed infrastructure approved and monitored by the Quality Accreditation Authority, and this includes clinics and private centers, in some of which the price of examination may reach 3 thousand pounds! The article will come later on the behavior of the private sector in providing mental health.
In the Egyptian case, we notice a decrease in the number of psychiatrists in general compared to the population, and the limited number of psychiatric hospitals as well, as it may reach about 18 hospitals and psychiatric centers with a total number of beds that do not exceed two thousand beds? What is the solution and what are the necessary development plans, especially in light of a crisis that began and escalated during Covid-19, and researchers are following it up?
Historically, the mental health sector in Egypt witnessed development after the 2009 law, which provided legal immunities that take into account the rights of patients, and greatly regulated professional practices after there was a large gap and an unregulated sector at all.
Despite this improvement in the regulatory framework that gave guarantees for patients’ rights, the big problem is still the poor financing of these services in the public sector, and the deterioration of the infrastructure through which services are provided. This wear and tear and lack of funding makes the majority resort to the private sector through clinics, sanatoriums, and so on. If we look at this in the context of the lack of psychiatrists, we realize that there is a big problem that needs discussion and solutions.
There is a lot of scientific literature and indicative policy papers from the World Health Organizations, to provide recommendations for improving mental health services at the level of direct service delivery, or at the level of public health policies and how they are integrated into existing insurance systems.
For example, the organization defines basic concepts related to mental health as “a state of psychological well-being that enables a person to face the pressures of life, fulfill his potential, learn and work well, and contribute to his community.” It is an integral part of the health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, forge relationships, and to shape the world in which we live. Mental health is a basic human right. It is critical to personal, community and socio-economic development. Mental health is not limited to the absence of mental disorders. It is part of a complex continuum, which varies from person to person, is characterized by varying degrees of difficulty and distress, and with potentially very different social and clinical outcomes.”
In this context, and after explaining the foregoing, it can be said that the public sector faces two main problems, away from consumer talk (which may be real) about societal stigma and fear of the demand for mental health services. Different experiences indicate that, despite the obstacles, when there is a free health service provided in a manner that respects the human dignity and human dignity of male and female citizens, they will accept it.
The reality now is that private clinics and clinics are the main service providers. The problem here is the imaginary cost of the prices of these health services in the private sector, and secondly: the absence of control over the practices and behaviors of the private sector.
In conclusion, the issue of mental health services in Egypt is complex and achieving progress in it is not an easy solution. Much of the World Health Organization literature indicates that mental health services in particular are linked to many other factors (for example, the social and economic determinants of health). However, it is possible to make progress, albeit small, in the presence of real control over the private sector, which puts the rights of the patient or the patient at the center, and secondly, government investment and the allocation of more funds to the health sector, and the initiation of procedures to treat the problem of the shortage of doctors.
