We were invited by the Directorate of Mental Health of Peru’s Ministry of Health to attend the official launch of the Sectoral Mental Health Policy Guidelines – Peru 2018. The event, held yesterday at the Ministry’s headquarters, was led by Minister of Health Silvia Pessah and Yuri Cutipé, Director of Mental Health, and was attended by members of Congress Alberto de Belaunde and Jorge del Castillo.
Following the welcoming remarks, during which representatives from the Ministry of Health of Chile, the World Health Organization, and organizations such as Fundación Manantial highlighted the progress made in Peru’s Mental Health Reform, Minister Silvia Pessah presented the main guidelines of the Mental Health Sector Policy, as well as the progress achieved in the reform process since the amendment of Law No. 29889 in October 2015.
To date, 98 community mental health centers have been inaugurated across the country, and the goal is to open 281 of these centers by 2021. Likewise, progress has been made in the implementation of Supported Homes, whose technical health standards were approved in July of this year. Currently, there are six of these facilities in Lima, Moquegua, and Loreto, and it is expected that, following the approval of this regulation, more will continue to be established to support people who are in situations of abandonment.
Minister Pessah also highlighted the importance of mental health within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations for 2030, with a focus on the following objectives:
The purpose of the guidelines presented by the Ministry of Health (MINSA) is to “improve the health status of the Peruvian population, establishing comprehensive mental health care with the protection of rights and ensuring the availability of sufficient and coordinated community-based services within health networks, aimed at promoting mental health, as well as reducing risks, harm, disability, and premature mortality caused by mental health problems.”
Based on this framework, the Mental Health Sector Policy presented by MINSA consists of five main guidelines, each supported by specific strategies. Additionally, seven cross-cutting approaches guide these policy guidelines:
The five guidelines are as follows:
First guideline: Mental health as a national health priority
The objective of this guideline is to strengthen the health system’s capacity to respond to the mental health needs of the Peruvian population, making mental health a priority on the MINSA agenda at all levels of care.
Second guideline: Development of community mental health services within the health system
The objective of this guideline is to strengthen health services by institutionalizing the community-based model for mental health care across all levels of the health system. In this way, it seeks to continue promoting community-based care instead of institutionalization as the main approach to treatment, thus encouraging social reintegration.
Third guideline: Comprehensive mental health care for the population, with emphasis on groups in conditions of greater vulnerability.
The objective of this guideline is to guarantee comprehensive mental health care through a community-based approach for the entire population, prioritizing vulnerable groups at all levels of the health system.
This guideline includes a significant number of strategies, each focused on groups such as early childhood; adolescents; women; older adults; people with disabilities; communities that have been marginalized and excluded due to their ethnic background; individuals and communities affected by violence during the internal armed conflict period (1980–2000); the LGBTIQ+ community; people affected by emergencies and disasters; and migrant populations.
Fourth guideline: Development of human resources for comprehensive mental health care
The objective of this guideline is to increase the availability and provision of professionals from different disciplines with the necessary competencies to effectively contribute to the coverage, effectiveness, and quality of mental health care.
In this way, it seeks to decentralize mental health human resources, expanding the focus beyond psychiatry by training professionals from other disciplines to provide appropriate care.
Fifth guideline: Institutional, sectoral, and interinstitutional coordination for comprehensive community-based mental health care
The objective of this final guideline is to establish coordination and collaboration mechanisms at the national, regional, and local levels for mental health care. This aims to promote joint efforts by bringing together different social actors whose skills and capacities, when combined, can generate transformative change.
From De-mentes, we warmly welcome and congratulate the Ministry of Health on this initiative, which we are confident will have a highly positive impact on the mental health situation in our country. Through our work, we will continue working consistently to eliminate stigma and prejudice surrounding mental health, in order to build a better country together.
#EveryoneForMentalHealth
For more details about the Mental Health Sector Policy and its guidelines, click here.
