Panaji

?Over 15 per cent of the individuals screened under the IMPRESS programme have been found to have signs of depression.

A total of 1.42 lakh individuals were screened, and over 22,000 of them screened positive for depression and were connected with existing care services.

In line with the implementation guidelines of India's flagship health programme, Ayushman Bharat, the Non-Communicable Diseases Cell (NCDC) of the Directorate of Health Services (DGS) has partnered with Sangath, a non-governmental organisation working on mental health, to provide counselling for depression at all primary and community health centres in the state.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said that the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB), Directorate of Health Services (DHS), Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), and Sangath can create the type of ecosystem that no state has seen.

"We want to make Goa a model state and save people's lives," Rane said.

He was speaking at the state-level mental health and well-being event jointly organised by NCDC at DHS and Sangath.

Since September 2022, DHS and Sangath have trained 97 primary care staff who provide counselling for depression across 30 primary and secondary healthcare centres under the IMPRESS programme.

The counselling services at primary health centres are also supported by a robust referral pathway to Tele-MANAS, the District Mental Health Programme, and IPHB.

More than 15,000 counselling sessions have been provided in total to over 700 patients.

The primary care system is further supported by 154 community volunteers who have been trained to create awareness about depression and increase access to treatment in 94 villages across Goa.

Nearly 2,000 awareness events have been conducted by local community volunteers, called 'Sangathis', reaching more than 51,000 people.

"Goa could very well be the first state to achieve universal health coverage through the public health system, because Goa has everything that it needs - it has the people, the infrastructure and the leadership," said Prof Vikram Patel, co-founder of Sangath.