Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday lamented the low budget for mental health programs in the 2021 National Budget after the Department of Health reported that at least 3.6 million Filipinos suffer from mental disorders.
Although the total budget for mental health had increased, Hontiveros said, the allocation for critical services under it had been significantly slashed by as much as half a billion pesos.
“I support the DOH in pursuit of a higher budget for mental health. Panahon ito ng stress, uncertainty, isolation at gutom. 3.6 million suffering is not only an underreported count, it’s also increasing every day,” Hontiveros said.
“We need to prepare for, if not completely prevent, a mental health crisis. Wag natin tong gawing new normal.”
Hontiveros cited reports from the DOH and other agencies that the pandemic led to a “shocking spike in suicides and domestic abuse that we are unable to cope with”. The NCMH crisis hotline also reported a 100-percent increase in calls, with almost 1,000 calls every month on average since the onset of the lockdown in March.
Experts had earlier warned of a mental health crisis in the midst of a worsening pandemic.
Despite the extreme demand, Hontiveros said, the NCMH, the country’s biggest mental health hospital, was refused P440 million, or 50 percent of what it had requested for their maintenance and operating expenses
She said those cuts would mean that the out-of-pocket expenses of patients would increase and free services might get paralyzed.
“The MOOE is crucial in ensuring that services like teletherapy and the crisis hotlines are conducted under optimal working conditions. Mayroon lamang tayong isang psychiatrist kada 100,000 Filipinos… We should be studying how to expand these services, not cripple them,” she said.
The allocation for mental-illness related medicine, Hontiveros said, was only given an “alarmingly low” P 84 million, or P 23 per Filipino in need, just 50 percent of what the DOH had originally requested. “MH medication is some of the most expensive maintenance drugs,” Hontiveros said.
She said the consequences of not subsidizing these medicines and services could lead to even higher rates of suicide.
She called on the DOH to fully implement all provisions of the MH Act after expressing alarm that only 45 percent of the 2019 budget for MH programs had been utilized.
“I am all for a higher health budget, pero kailangan nating bilisan ang pag-roll out ng pondo para sa mga serbisyo, so that we stand on strong footing as we brace for another pandemic,” she said.