By Vishani Ragobeer
MINISTER of Public Health Dr George Norton has expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje and has begun discussions with Cabinet towards rectifying the situation.

“It is my fairy godmother’s wish to bulldoze that structure,” Dr Norton told the Guyana Chronicle in an interview. He contended that the hospital is one “you wouldn’t want to put anyone in” due to its deplorable state.

From visits to the hospital, he found it to be “filthy, damp, humid and just unfit.”
Dr Norton asserted that the condition of this hospital is “scandalous.”

He also noted that it is his desire to have the Psychiatric Hospital removed from “that particular spot,” but has revealed that it will remain in Region Six at the request of a few Region Six officials he met recently.

During an informal trip to Berbice recently, the officials showed him an “open land space right in New Amsterdam.” This land space, he noted, is suitable for the construction of a new psychiatric hospital.

The minister said he is “making every effort to correct this issue” and not just criticising.

He said he has taken the matter to Cabinet already and has engaged in a few discussions.

“It is my fairy godmother’s wish to bulldoze that structure” – Dr George Norton

Although there is little epidemiologic data from Guyana, disease burden estimates have recognised the neuropsychiatric disorders as making a larger contribution to the burden of disease than  HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, the draft National Mental Health Strategy 2015-2020 states.

The 200-bed mental hospital is organizationally integrated with mental health outpatient facilities and the number of beds has not changed in the last five years.

None of the beds at the National Psychiatric Hospital are reserved for children and adolescents only. The patients admitted mostly include those with schizophrenia and delusional disorders,

The draft strategy noted that there is no forensic psychiatric facility and no designated forensic mental health beds in Guyana. However, within the correctional facilities there are designated areas where inmates suffering from mental disorders reside.

Forensic cases are sent to the national Public Health Hospital where they are admitted to the general wards on order of the court for psychiatric assessment and treatment. As the hospital is not equipped to provide secure facilities, forensic cases admitted on order of the court are provided assessment and acute stabilization treatment and are then discharged to the prison system.

The same strategy in a synopsis of Guyana’s 2014 mental health burdens noted that   there are 10 to 15% of Guyanese with a mental disorder at any one time.  This means that 78,000 to 114,500 Guyanese are suffering from a mental disorder and require some level of mental health care service.  In addition, it was noted that an average of 20,000 Guyanese suffer from severe mental illness.
Unipolar depression is the fifth greatest contributor to the disease burden in Guyana, and suicide, a major mental health issue, is a leading cause of death here.

Norton’s latest statements regarding the hospital comes with a commitment by the Ministry of Public Health to improve on the provision of mental health services, and have such services at the community level.

Minister with the Ministry of Health, Dr Karen Cummings recently identified the need for a review of the current mental health legislation that does not allow for extensive mental health care.

One of the reasons for improving the provision of mental health services in Guyana is the alarming rate of suicides.

“Several risk factors contribute to the high suicide rates in Guyana. The most common risk factors identified are acute emotional distress and depression. This factor accounts for 36.6 % of all cases,” Minister Cummings was quoted by the Government Information Agency (GINA) as saying on August 12 last.

“The care of the mentally ill is provided under the legislative framework of the Mental Health Ordinance of 1930, which is antiquated and fails to make provision for the protection of the rights of people with mental disorders,” she added.

According to 2012 statistics, Guyana, a developing country with less than a million people, is faced with a staggering suicide rate which has landed the country atop the list of countries with the highest suicide rate.

The last suicide study completed on Guyana indicates that there were 667 reported cases for the period 2010-2012, resulting in an average of 222 per year.