Maldives National Party (MNP) President and Dhangethi Constituency Member of Parliament Mohamed Nazim has stated that the government lacks a proper system to provide mental health care.

Speaking during the debate of the motion submitted by Nazim and Thimarafushi Member of Parliament Abdulla Riyaz calling to establish a holistic system to provide mental health care in the Maldives, Nazim described the failure to provide proper mental health care as a serious problem for the nation. He highlighted that it remains one of the biggest challenges in the country.

Nazim further highlighted that while one in eight people seek mental health care, every one in four people do so in the Maldives. He added that so far we are yet to witness a system being established to provide a holistic approach to this, instead we have only seen temporary solutions in the form of mental health centers.

On this note, the lawmaker stressed that permanent solutions needed to be established to solve the issue.

Nazim also added that while about 60,000 people had sought treatment for mental health in the past four years, we are still seeing thousands of people in endless queues trying to access mental health care.

He called on the government to establish an affordable mental health care system, that also serves as a permanent solution for the issue at hand.