The Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), today launched the 2024-2028 Philippine Council for Mental Health (PCMH) Strategic Framework to guide the development and implementation of mental health policies, programs, and services to address the significant burden of mental illness and improve mental health and well-being in the country.
In line with “Ginhawa ng Isip at Damdamin,” one of the Health Sector’s 8-Point Action Agenda Para sa Healthy Pilipinas officially adopted through DOH Administrative Order No. 2023-0115, various government agencies and key stakeholders worked together in formulating the five-year strategic plan, which aims to reduce premature mortality, prevent and treat substance abuse effectively, and reduce the vulnerability of individuals and communities to mental, neurological, and substance use disorders.
“Today, as we launch the 2024-2028 PCMH Mental Health Strategic Framework, I am confident that we can address more mental health concerns in the country. With the contributions of all partner agencies under the PCMH and the guidance of WHO, we can achieve all the strategies we are set to do as laid out in the new five-year strategic framework,” said Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa.
WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr Rui Paulo de Jesus hands over the Philippine Council for Mental Health Strategic Framework 2024-2028 to DOH Secretary Dr Teodoro Herbosa, together with the PCMH members composed of government agencies, civil society organizations, non-government organizations, academic institutions, and mental health professionals.
Supported by the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health, the PCMH promotes the basic right of Filipinos to mental health by implementing mental health policies, strengthening patient navigation and referral pathways, creating the Mental Health Internal Review Board, and training media groups on ethical and responsible reporting and portrayal of suicide.
Since the passage of the Mental Health Act in 2018, the Philippines has scaled up mental health services and quality essential medicines with 362 access sites nationwide dispensing 30 mental health medicines serving 124,246 service users in 2022. The DOH has also capacitated health and non-health personnel on mental health to further advance the protection of service users at the primary care level through the continuous implementation of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) in local government units. The National Center for Mental Health’s 24/7 crisis hotlines were also established.
Ms Kyra Camille Ballesteros, a Person With Lived Experience (PWLE) of mental health conditions, emphasized how the PCMH Strategic Framework is a huge step in addressing mental health care inequities.
“We commit to implementing pro-equity strategies to ensure access to universal health care and develop resilient health systems in the country that respond to the mental health and well-being needs of every citizen,” WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr Rui Paulo De Jesus said.
To further transform mental health responsive communities, the government implemented strategies across different agencies and educational institutions, which resulted in 78,449 private establishments with mental health workplace policies to ensure the safety and well-being of employees; 54 hospitals providing ‘behavioural nudges’ to help health workers cope with stress; and 273 last-mile elementary schools serving as implementing sites of a comprehensive range of mental health measures under the Healthy Learning Institutions (HLI) Framework.
Health Secretary Dr Teodoro Herbosa and PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr led the signing of the PhilHealth Mental Health Benefit Package with PhilHealth NCR Regional Office Vice President Dr Bernadette Lico, NCMH National Center Chief Dr Noel Reyes, NCMH Hospital Services Chief Medical and Professional Staff II Dr Beverly Azucena, and PhilHealth Benefits Administration Section Head Dr Cynthia P. Camacho.
The event also featured the expansion of the PhilHealth Mental Health Benefit Package, which provides mental health benefits for outpatient services. The primary care package includes 12 consultations, diagnostic follow-up, psychoeducation, and psychosocial support provided by mental health outpatient facilities for medicine access sites.
The launch was attended by PCMH Council Members from different agencies including DOH, Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).