Free medicines, services for mental health patients assured
Regional and city health authorities assured that there are available free medicines and services for individuals suffering from mental health issues as part of their treatment.
Dr. Rio Magpantay, regional director of the Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR), said that the government is giving out free medicines to individuals suffering from mental health issues as part of their prescribed medications to help them in sustaining their treatment.
However, he added that the health department is looking into the possibility of procuring the medicines being prescribed by experts to help in the medication of individuals suffering from mental health problems so that they will be the ones that will be given to the said persons in the future.
The DOH-CAR official claimed that the agency wants to make sure that the medicines that will be made available to individuals suffering from mental health issues are the ones that are needed by the patients so that the same will not be left out and eventually expire which should not be the case in the first place as it will translate to waste of public funds.
For his part, Ricky Ducas, mental health coordinator of the City Health Services Office, claimed that the local government is also giving free medicines and psycho-social services to individuals suffering from mental health issues as part of the readily available interventions for them to get well from their illness.
Further, he disclosed that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) also came out with a mental health package amounting to P19,600 that includes the payment of psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists and other experts providing their services for the individuals suffering from mental health issues.
Ducas urged the said individuals to seek appropriate interventions with experts in the nearest health care providers so that the necessary treatment, therapy, medication and psycho-social services will be recommended for them to be able to recover from their current predicament. – Dexter A. See
