After being one of the pioneers in the fight against Covid-19, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital (HURH), located in the Jnah district in the heart of Beirut, quickly became a benchmark in mental health care with its community center, the only one in a government hospital offering free sessions and devoted to pathologies of the psyche. We take a look back at this structure, which receives more than 150 patients every month, on the occasion of Mental Health Awareness Month.
The activity of the center, created in 2017, has recently intensified with the multiplication of psychological problems linked to the confinement and the devastating explosion of the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. “After the pandemic and the disaster at the port, languages have started to loosen and we have seen a decrease in taboos around mental health, people starting to seek help from professionals, ”said the manager, Ghina al-Ali.
Patients are received discreetly on the 3rd floor of one of the HURH outpatient buildings, at the entrance of which explanatory brochures on the various mood disorders are displayed. There is also a room dedicated to children needing follow-up. Managed by Médecins du Monde (MDM), a medical association for international solidarity, with funding from the French Development Agency (AFD), the community mental health center also works with the NGO Skoun, which takes care of monitoring psychological effects of patients treated with HURH for drug or alcohol dependence. Ms. Ali explains that the center treats many patients with mood disorders, major depression, anxiety and psychotic problems. “We have two psychiatrists and two psychotherapists who receive by appointment, the patients are generally between 18 and 59 years old and the majority of them are women”, she indicates, specifying that the drugs are provided free of charge in more transport for some. Between August 2018 and the end of 2020, 5,000 consultations took place.
A room is specially dedicated to young patients. Photo Mohammad Yassine
A pilot model, to be exported to the regions
The director of Rafic Hariri hospital, Dr Firas Abiad, does not hide the sense of pride he feels in this center and dreams of duplicating the model in other regions of Lebanon. The HURH, which also houses a psychiatric wing, “is the only government hospital to have a complete system of mental health care”, he welcomes, indicating that “some private hospitals have developed a similar system, this which is quite rare in Lebanon, this kind of structure being expensive and bringing in little money ”. “We want this center to be a pilot model that we can export to other regions such as the North or the Bekaa,” he continues. The government hospital in Baalbeck had hosted a similar center for a few months, he recalls, but it was eventually moved to the village of Douris, six kilometers away, for logistical reasons.
“We are trying to fight the stigma associated with mental health. The HURH mental health center offers free care, regardless of nationality, gender or age, in accordance with the Lebanese national strategy for mental health, ”explains the MDM coordinator of mental health in Lebanon. , Foteini Christoforidou.
Skoun’s executive director, Tatiana Sleiman, whose organization also occupies premises within the hospital, reveals to the OLJ that the number of patients wishing to seek treatment for addictions is constantly on the rise. “There are unfortunately no official figures, but since the popular uprising (in October 2019) and the economic crisis, we are receiving more and more calls for the treatment of all kinds of addictions, such as abuse alcohol, the occasional use of drugs or certain medicines to fight against insomnia, ”she underlines, adding that drug consumption is increasing among refugees, especially out-of-school or unemployed young people.
Faced with the increase in demand for mental health care, AFD’s deputy director in Lebanon, Thierry Liscia, calls for more importance to be given to this type of service. “Multiple and repeated traumas are manifested in the country, we can see it in the attitude of the people, their aggressiveness and their impatience in certain situations, but also at the level of certain fears developed by the children”, he explains to OLJ. “AFD is the only institution to have projects of this scale for mental health in Lebanon, where a growing demand for care is noted in both Beirut and Douris. The objective is to set up long-lasting structures and to strengthen the public health system, for which we are working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health, ”he adds.
AFD is already working to rehabilitate the infrastructure of Rafic Hariri hospital, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a project funded to the tune of 20 million euros, to which AFD added 5 million euros after the explosion of the port, recalls Mr. Liscia. The agency also spent 2 million euros for the rehabilitation of part of the Government Quarantine Hospital, seriously damaged by the explosion.
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After being one of the pioneers in the fight against Covid-19, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital (HURH), located in the Jnah district in the heart of Beirut, quickly became a benchmark in mental health care with its community center, the only one in a government hospital offering free sessions and devoted to pathologies of the psyche ….
