Australian help for mental health services
The Australian government will provide a grant of Rs 35 million to
assist the Health Ministry and the Sri Lankan College of Psychiatrists
to deliver community based mental health services in the Northern
Province over the next 12 months. The programme will be implemented
across the Northern Province, with support from World Vision, Australia.
Australia's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman said: "This
programme is important in Sri Lanka given high levels of mental
illnesses across the country, and the impact of the conflict on families
in the Northern Province in particular.
We are glad to be able to support the Health Ministry community
mental health programmes in the North, as these are an important part of
continuing to help people recover in those districts".
Australia's support for this programme began in October 2010, with an
initial grant of Rs 50 million to establish the partnership between
Health Ministry, College of Psychiatrists and World Vision, Australia.
In the initial phase, the programme supported 40 Community Health
Extension positions in the North, built 10 community support centres,
and assisted in information dissemination to help people access
information about mental health and combat stigma.
The initial phase of the programme touched the lives of an estimated
18,000 people across the Northern Province. Building on this
achievement, the next phase is expected to assist about 24,000 people.
This partnership is a small but important element of Australia's Rs
4.35 billion development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2011-2012. |