“Mental health in our country is stigmatized, made worse by a meager annual budget. Mental health is one of our country’s under-resourced sectors. The appropriation earmarked by the Department of Health worth 2.1 billion pesos for next year could possibly change this.”

This is according to Anakalusugan Party-list Representative Ray Florence Reyes as he commended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration for setting aside  P2.1 billion under the Department of Health’s annual expenditures particularly for mental health programs.

“The allocation is a huge mark-up from last year’s P568.04 million budget. With this amount for 2023 we can improve, create, and provide more services for Filipinos suffering from mental health issues,” he emphasized in a statement on Tuesday.

Citing a report on the country’s mental health conditions conducted by the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Reyes said government hospitals and the national health insurance program in the Philippines only pay for in-patient services. This means that outpatient patients with mental diseases are still responsible for paying the full cost of their care out of pocket.

“It is greatly hoped that this budget increase can lessen the financial burden on our countrymen. This is surely a positive step towards the drive to break the stigma associated with mental illness, as it creates opportunities for improvement in officially funded health-centric priorities,” he highlighted.

The lawmaker also said according to the Health department, 3.6 million Filipinos had mental illnesses at the height of the pandemic. It ranks as the third most prevalent form of impairment in the country. In the Western Pacific area, the Philippines also has the third-highest rate of mental problems per capita. 

Photo Credit: Facebook/anakalusugan1