Dr. Nargis Asad of the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) stated that 24 million people in Pakistan need psychiatric care services and that the availability of qualified mental health practitioners is insufficient to meet the requirement.
She revealed this while speaking at the symposium titled: ‘Mental Health: Why is it a Global Priority?’, held by the Departments of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts (SSLA) and the School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), in Karachi.
Various other professionals spoke at the event as well, including, Consultant Psychiatrist AKUH, Dr. Shireen Najam, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Karachi Down Syndrome Programme (KDSP), Samar Naqvi, and Country Director Interactive Research and Development (IRD) Pakistan, Aneeta Pasha, among many others.
The SSLA department head, Dr. Sahar Nadeem, initiated the event by emphasizing the importance of mental health, after which Dr. Asad from AKUH spoke about the psychosocial factors influencing mental health and the need for more mental health professionals, revealing that there are presently only 0.19 psychiatrists per 100,000 citizens in Pakistan.
The IRD country director discussed the significance of mental health and the necessity for workplace mental health awareness, stressing that a complete transformation was required and that employers should invest in their employees’ mental health by embracing a more humane value system.
The KDSP CEO shared statistics about the country’s disabled population, saying that one in every seven people had some type of disability and that 80 percent of them live in the developing world. Disabled people lack a sense of belonging. She explained how to give them mental and emotional support to help them feel like they belong.
The symposium’s following segment was a panel discussion conducted by Assistant Professor IBA, Dr. Ayesha Zia.Â
The audience contributed to the conversation by asking questions, and the panelists provided informed responses.
In response to a query, IBA Wellness Counsellor, Dr. Ahmed Ali, explained that for the last six years, the IBA has provided free mental health counseling to its students. Counselors assist students in developing appropriate coping mechanisms for daily challenges and mental health problems.
